Man sentenced to 25 years in prison for murdering girlfriend then fleeing Arizona

A man convicted of murdering his girlfriend after fatally shooting her in 2021 was sentenced to 25 years in prison, the Maricopa County Attorney's Office announced Thursday.

On Jan. 5, 2021, Phoenix police responded to an apartment near Bell Road and 35th Avenue after receiving two calls asking for a welfare check. Officers found 39-year-old Jessica Kennedy dead with a gunshot wound to the head but did not locate a weapon.

The agency said police described Kennedy's boyfriend, Cecil Noyola, now 65, acting erratically for several days before fleeing the state.

Later that month, Noyola returned to Arizona and admitted to giving the gun he used to a friend, which police recovered after arresting the friend.

Noyola was arrested on Jan. 8, 2021, and convicted of second-degree murder and tampering with evidence in March 2024.

Noyola was sentenced on July 17 to 25 years for second-degree murder and three years for tampering with evidence, which will be served concurrently, the attorney's office said. He was also sentenced to 10 years for an unrelated misconduct involving a weapons charge, which will be served concurrently with the homicide case.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Man sentenced to 25 years in prison for murdering girlfriend then fleeing Arizona