Man who confessed to fatally stomping Phoenix woman over racial slur convicted of murder

Man convicted of killing Phoenix woman over slur

PHOENIX — A man who confessed to fatally stomping a Phoenix woman over a racial slur has been convicted of murder.

Maricopa County prosecutors say Jose Preciliano Quintero was convicted Monday of first-degree murder, sexual abuse and kidnapping.

Prosecutors say Quintero cannot be sentenced to death because he was 16 at the time of the December 2008 slaying. He faces a sentence of up to life in prison.

Quintero told police he was upset because his girlfriend had just broken up with him and that he snapped when 38-year-old Helen Coulter called him a racial slur.

Authorities say Quintero admitted dragging Coulter to a vacant lot, stomping on her and sexually abusing her with a stick. An autopsy showed Coulter died of blunt force trauma.

Information from: The Arizona Republic, www.azcentral.com