Man pleads no contest to Collier County homicide committed as teen

COLLIER COUNTY, Fla.— A man has pleaded no contest, accepting his role in a deadly drive-by shooting that occurred while he was a teenager in Collier County.

On Thursday, Malachi Jesus Montelongo, 23, will spend the next 30 years in state prison after entering a no-contest plea on the fourth day of his jury trial, after prosecutors rested their case.

Montelongo will serve his sentence for second-degree murder and has also received 273 months in prison for two counts of aggravated assault, with all sentences to be served at the same time.

Montelongo was arrested in 2019 after deputies responded to a drive-by shooting that occurred in Farm Worker Village. 

According to deputies, Montelongo, along with his older brother Jesus Montelongo III, 25, then 19 and 17 respectively, drove up to a residence along Amos Court in a red Nissan Altima and fired multiple rounds into a silver vehicle occupied by three people.

One of the victims, Adriana Nicole Abrigo, 33, from Immokalee, was transported to Lee Memorial Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

Multiple witnesses identified both shooters by name, and detectives later confirmed evidence linking the Montelongo brothers to the crime.