16-year-old to serve 7 years for killing another Tri-Cities teen
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- He was 15 at the time of the July 6, 2025 shooting.
- He will remain in juvenile rehab until he turns 23, then two years probation.
- Prosecutors dropped adult transfer after texts showed Jacobo planned to steal the gun.
A 16-year-old will spend the next seven years in a juvenile detention center after firing several shots at a fleeing teen in Pasco, killing him.
Moises Palomino-Rodriguez pleaded guilty in Franklin County Juvenile Court to second-degree murder for his part in the July 2025 killing.
He opened fire at Paul Jacobo, 18, as he ran through a neighborhood with a stolen gun, Prosecutor Shawn Sant told the Tri-City Herald.
Jacobo’s mother Patricia Brigmon said the loss of her son is a pain that she wouldn’t wish on anyone else.
“As a parent, the grief is unbearable. No parent should have to bury their child. The pain follows us into every part of our lives — emotionally, mentally and physically,” she said in her statement during his sentencing. “We struggle to sleep, to focus, to find peace.”
Prosecutors initially considered moving the murder charge to adult court. Because Palomino-Rodriguez was 15 at the time of the shooting, prosecutors would have needed to convince a judge that the teen should be treated as an adult.
Initially prosecutors believed Palomino-Rodriguez and Edwin J. Magana, 17, conspired to rob Jacobo and his friend, but learned through text messages that the victim and a friend had plotted to steal a gun from the two teens, Sant said.
Palomino-Rodriguez also didn’t have any criminal history, so prosecutors believed it unlikely they could convince a judge to move the case, Sant explained.
They spoke with family members about the plea agreement that gave Palomino-Rodriguez the maximum possible sentence, which will leave him in a state juvenile center until he turns 23 and then he will spend the next two years on probation.
Court Commissioner Brandon Holt followed the agreement.
Magana previously admitted to being the getaway driver and pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of first-degree rendering criminal assistance and illegal gun possession and was sentenced to a month’s detention.
Theft turned murder
Jacobo and a friend had agreed to go shooting on July 6, 2025, with the other two teens. They were planning on getting ammunition for a gun.
They were in a Jeep in a Sixth Avenue neighborhood in Pasco when Jacobo allegedly grabbed the empty gun and began running through some yards.
Palomino-Rodriguez allegedly fired eight shots at him from another gun. One shot hit Jacobo, killing him in the driveway of a home on Sixth Avenue. The empty semi-automatic gun and a wallet were found near his body.
This story was originally published May 28, 2026 at 11:07 AM.