Ataei was sentenced to life, with possible release after 25 years, for killing Irma Rivera-Martinez.

A prison term imposed after a guilty plea is the court's judgment on the counts that were admitted. It is not a new accusation, and it is not a trial verdict on premeditation. FOX 10 Phoenix reported on Oct. 2, 2026, that a judge sentenced Mohammad Hussain Ataei to life in prison, with possible release after 25 years, and gave him credit for about three and a half years already served. Court documents the station cited show an Aug. 31 plea to first-degree felony murder and first-degree burglary in the killing of Irma Rivera-Martinez.

FOX 10 Phoenix reported on Oct. 2, 2026, that a judge sentenced Mohammad Hussain Ataei to life in prison, with the possibility of release after 25 years, for the killing of Irma Rivera-Martinez. The station reported he received credit for the three and a half years he had already spent in jail. Citing court documents, FOX 10 reported that on Aug. 31 he pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree felony murder and one count of first-degree burglary. A felony-murder plea admits a death during a listed felony. It is not a separate finding, after a trial, that he planned the killing. The life term, with release eligibility after 25 years, is the sentence the court imposed on that plea.

The shooting was April 21, 2023, at a Chevron near 51st Avenue and Glendale Avenue. FOX 10 reported Rivera-Martinez, 25, had just walked into the store when a man in a black mask shot her 10 times. azfamily reported police said the gunman parked a dark blue Toyota Camry in a nearby alley, went to the back of the store where she was stocking shelves, and shot her more than 10 times at close range. Glendale police said at the time that they believed she was targeted, and that they did not know whether she knew him, azfamily and FOX 10 reported. He was 20 when he was arrested days later near 48th Avenue and Glendale. A search of his Avondale home turned up clothing and a gun police said was used in the shooting, FOX 10 reported, citing the department. Those are the 2023 police allegations. The 2026 judgment is the plea and the sentence, not a new investigation.

At the sentencing, FOX 10 reported, Ataei said, "I ask for forgiveness and mercy from God every day," and, "If I could go back, I would change everything, but I can't, and every night I wish this never happened." A parent asked the court for leniency. A member of Rivera-Martinez's family told him and his family, "He stole her from me," and, "you will keep seeing your son. I can't see my daughter ever again," the station reported. Remorse and a family's answer are what was said in court. They do not change the term the judge imposed. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.