GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — I did it.
Both the prosecution and defense in the murder trial of Luis Bernal-Sosa agree that's what the suspect said within moments of his arrest in the shooting death of 22-year-old Leah Gomez.
Bernal-Sosa, 27, admitted to gunning down the mother of his young child as she was sitting inside her car with her 1-year-old daughter on May 31, 2023. The child wasn't hurt.
It didn't take the Kent County jury long to return with a unanimous verdict: Guilty.
Bernal-Sosa will be sentenced on March 27.
Leah Gomez was on the phone with a friend at the time of the killing. When she wouldn't hang up the phone when he asked her to, the prosecution said Bernal-Sosa walked back into an apartment, got an AR-15 and shot her seven times.
The prosecutor asked the jury to return a guilty verdict of murder and a felony gun charge.
"A reasonable person doesn't grab an AR-15 and walk out there," Kent County Prosecutor Chris Becker said in closing arguments.
"This isn't voluntary manslaughter. It's not even close. There's nothing reasonable. There's nothing emotional. This is first-degree murder. This is an execution. There's intent. He killed her for no good reason."
Bernal-Sosa's defense didn't present any witnesses during the trial.
"This case went a lot quicker than we thought," Bernal-Sosa's defense attorney said during his closing argument. "He told the police as soon as he got arrested, 'yep, I did it.'"
The defense did not try to convince the jury he didn't do it. Instead, he asked the jury to return a verdict of voluntary manslaughter and to consider what he described as Bernal-Sosa's heightened emotional state at the time.
"The bottom line is...this is not a pre-meditated killing. He did not lie and wait for her to pick up the child and shoot her. It all came about as a result of the emotional upheaval."
The Kent County prosecutor said Bernal-Sosa admitted to the shooting during his arrest.
The judge read instructions to the jury, and they began official deliberations around 10:15 a.m. Wednesday.
RELATED: Leah Gomez was on the phone with a friend when she was killed in front of her child, police say
Law enforcement tracked Bernal-Sosa to the Chicagoland area and arrested him after the shooting. He was extradited to Grand Rapids.
The family of Leah Gomez learned of her suspected killer's arrest during her funeral service.
According to probable cause documents filed in the case, a friend of Gomez called 911 to report they had been on the phone with her when they heard shots fired in the background of the call.
Police rushed to the 300 block of Commerce Avenue SW and found a silver Mercury registered to Leah Gomez.
Inside, they found her dead suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. Also inside her car was her small child in the backseat. The child wasn't hurt.
The friend told detectives Gomez was concerned about Bernal-Sosa and wanted to stay on the phone while she was around him.
When Bernal-Sosa found out she was on the phone, the acquaintance told detectives he hung up.
Once Bernal-Sosa left to get some of his daughter's things, Gomez called her friend back.
When Bernal-Sosa came back to the car, the friend heard her say: "Is that an AR-15? You need to get out of my car!"
That's when the friend told police he heard a metal noise, which may have been the sound of a gun being racked. Then the friend heard five to six gunshots, and the phone went silent.
The friend then called 911.
During the investigation, detectives said a witness reported that after shots were fired, he saw a man walking into the apartment complex carrying a gun. This witness identified Bernal-Sosa as the person they saw.
Using a search warrant, detectives found the alleged murder weapon, an AR-15-style rifle, in the apartment.
Investigators also found seven rounds of .223 and two sets of Bernal-Sosa's fingerprints on the exterior of the silver Mercury.
Police said they also found surveillance video of Bernal-Sosa exiting the apartment with something wrapped in a silver blanket with what appeared to be the buttstock of a gun sticking out.
That silver blanket was found on the passenger side of the Mercury that Gomez was found in.
RELATED: 'I hope that there's justice': Cousin of Leah Gomez relieved after arrest of murder suspect
Bernal-Sosa and Gomez were previously dating, and he is the father of Gomez's child.
The pair have a history of domestic violence, according to Grand Rapids Police Chief Eric Winstrom. Bernal-Sosa was also wanted on a warrant for attempting to strangle Gomez prior to her killing.
Detectives are looking into how he acquired the weapon.
"It's an absolute tragedy and he needs to be held accountable," Winstrom said.
As far as a motive for the killing, the chief said it's tough to know what's going on in someone's head.
"There could never be any sort of justification that would make sense to murder a mother in front of her 2-year-old baby," Winstrom said.
►Make it easy to keep up to date with more stories like this. Download the 13 ON YOUR SIDE app now.
Have a news tip? Email news@13onyourside.com, visit our Facebook page or Twitter. Subscribe to our YouTube channel.
Watch 13 ON YOUR SIDE for free on Roku, Amazon Fire TV Stick, Apple TV and on your phone.