Man gets 20 years to life for Las Vegas iPad killing

Convicted in the death of a Las Vegas teen and breaking into tears, Michael Solid pleaded with jurors Thursday to allow him a chance at freedom.

“I just don’t want to be a waste,” Solid said during the penalty phase of his trial on murder and robbery charges. “I don’t want to be a waste of talent when I know what I’m capable of doing. I just want a second chance. I’m begging you guys to look past what I’ve been portrayed as.”

He also apologized to the family of 15-year-old Marcos Arenas, who was run over by a Ford Explorer after he refused to surrender his iPad in May 2013.

Hours after Solid’s testimony, the same Clark County jury that found him guilty of first-degree murder a day earlier handed down a sentence of 20 years to life in prison. He could face an additional minimum of 21 years on the robbery and conspiracy charges along with a deadly weapon enhancement.

As he was led away from the courtroom by marshals, Solid made the sign of the cross and mouthed “I’m sorry” to the victim’s father, Ivan Arenas, and other family members in the gallery.

Ivan Arenas described Solid’s sentence on the murder charge as fair and said the defendant “was still thinking about himself” before the jury decided on the punishment.

“I felt like it was his last strategy, last card he had to pull as far as getting some leniency,” the father said. “If he felt sorry, he wouldn’t have exposed us to all the details” that came out during four days of trial testimony.

Prosecutors said Solid, now 24, was behind the wheel of the SUV that ran over Marcos as the teen tried to recover his stolen iPad.

On the afternoon of May 16, 2013, one of Solid’s friends, Jacob Dismont, wrested the device away from the boy and jumped into the SUV, with Solid waiting in the driver’s seat, according to prosecutors.

Prosecutors said Marcos had cherished the iPad because his family rarely could afford high-priced electronics. A single father who worked as a handyman, Ivan Arenas took out a payday loan to purchase the device for $249 from a pawn shop. It had been a birthday gift and a reward for doing well in school.

Marcos struggled and screamed in his last, desperate attempt to hold onto the device, prosecutors said. Traffic stopped as he was dragged from a sidewalk onto Charleston Boulevard. Marcos grasped and banged on the SUV before he was run over and Solid sped away.

Solid collected $80 for the iPad, and the cash later was used to buy heroin.

Dismont, 21, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and conspiracy to commit robbery and is awaiting sentencing. Solid rejected the same offer from prosecutors, according to lawyers involved in the case.

Contact David Ferrara at dferrara@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039. Follow @randompoker on Twitter.