He Gave Her Drugs, Raped Her Body. Now the Sentence

A young man who gave a teenager drugs, watched her OD, raped her, and joked about her dead body via text received his sentence Thursday: less than three years. Superior Court Judge Linda Krese said Washington state law restricted the sentence she could give a first-time offender like Brian Varela, 20, in the death and rape of 18-year-old Alyssa Noceda, per the Herald. Krese described herself as "surprised, even outraged" by the 2-year, 10-month sentence, saying car thieves have gone away for longer. "I'm not sure the legislature really contemplated something like this." The nightmare story dates back to February, when Noceda went to a mobile-home party near Martha Lake, Wash., and snorted crushed pills along with a little concentrated THC in Varela's room. A minute later, says Varela, she collapsed.

Filled with a fatal combination of what tests later showed to be fentanyl and alprazolam (a generic Xanax), Noceda lay there while Varela texted coworkers pics of her partly nude body. Varela texted "LOL," a friend wrote back "Bro you killed her," and Varela responded, "But not joking she od bruh" and said he hardly cared because he was assaulting her "to pass the time." Varela later packed her in a crate, used her thumbprint to hack her iPhone, and created a Snapchat post implying she had run away. Varela said two things in court: "I'm sorry for my foolish actions. Whatever I get is what I deserve." Initially charged with first-degree manslaughter and second-degree rape, per the Herald, he reached a plea agreement in September knocking each charge down a notch. (A lawyer referred to a teen's lacy thong in her rape trial.)