The Colorado Springs man who shot two people at the New Havana Grill and Bar last year was sentenced to 90 days in jail Thursday at a highly contentious sentencing hearing.

Zain Frank Aguilera-Valdez, 22, was arrested on March 18, 2023, after he shot two people in the parking lot of the New Havana Grill and Bar on the east side of Colorado Springs during an altercation that sparked as his group was being kicked out of the bar.

Both of the people who were shot by Aguilera-Valdez survived. He was arrested and faced more than 25 charges, including six counts of attempted first-degree murder.

According to court records, Aguilera-Valdez pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree assault and one violent crime sentence enhancer in April.

At Aguilera-Valdez’s sentencing hearing Thursday his attorney, Austin Vos, made it clear that despite a guilty plea being entered it was his belief that his client was fully innocent, and that he only discharged his firearm in self-defense.

The topic of whether Aguilera-Valdez acted in self-defense the night of the shooting took up the bulk of Thursday’s sentencing hearing as Aguilera-Valdez’s sentence was still yet to be determined heading into the hearing.

Aguilera-Valdez was rejected from Community Corrections — which according to Judge Catherine Mitchell Helton was the recommended sentence from the pre-sentence investigation report — leaving either a probation sentence or a several-year stint in the Department of Corrections as the two sentencing options.

Prosecutor Keeley Deback opened the hearing by calling an expert to testify about how the prosecution believes that Aguilera-Valdez did not need to discharge his firearm and was not acting in self-defense. The expert went through screenshots from security footage of the shooting, highlighting how Aguilera-Valdez escalated the incident from an altercation to a shooting.

Vos, as well as several family members of Aguilera-Valdez who spoke to the court, disagreed. Vos spoke about how the defense’s expert on self-defense decided that Aguilera-Valdez’s actions were justified.

Vos said the incident began because security guards were allegedly assaulting and beating Aguilera-Valdez’s girlfriend as they were being kicked out of the bar, which led to Aguilera-Valdez being punched in the face by a guard which prompted him to begin shooting.

“That day I thought I was going to lose my girlfriend,” Aguilera-Valdez told the court during his impact statement.

Aguilera-Valdez’s family members, as well as Vos, also spoke at length about how they felt the prosecution and police mistreated Aguilera-Valdez through the whole process, putting him in a situation where he needed to plead guilty to a crime for which they say he is innocent.

At one point Vos stated the conduct of the prosecution and police are part of the reason people have “mistrust in the system.”

After two hours of impact statements and testimony Helton issued her sentence, opting to not send Aguilera-Valdez to the Department of Corrections. Helton instead sentenced Aguilera-Valdez to 90 days in jail and eight years probation.

“This was not an easy choice to make,” Helton said. “If you are not 100% compliant I will put you in prison.”

Helton said the decision was difficult because although it was clear from video footage there was provocation that put Aguilera-Valdez in real danger, it was illegal for him to be in possession of a firearm and he did shoot recklessly into a crowd of people.

“You could have killed someone,” Helton said.

As Helton read the sentence audible gasps of excitement could be heard from Aguilera-Valdez’s family in the courtroom.

“Oh my god,” Aguilera-Valdez’s girlfriend said as she wept when the sentence was read.

The New Havana Grill and Bar, just off North Academy Boulevard, was the location of several shootings before it closed late last year.

Last week, Oscar Jovet Palomares and Jose Noriega Demarco were sentenced to nine years in the Department of Corrections for attempting to shoot a man in the parking lot of the New Havana Grill and Bar in 2022, according to court records.

In 2023 Carnel Davis was sentenced to 48 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder for shooting and killing Glenn Fruster at the New Havana Grill and Bar in 2022.

The New Havana Grill and Bar has been permanently closed, and the building where the bar was located remains unoccupied.

Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to clarify that Judge Helton stated Aguilera-Valdez was illegally in possession of a firearm at the time of the shooting.