State District Judge Michael Vigil sorted through two sets of pictures Wednesday afternoon.

The first were photos of a lifeless, bloody Pedro Maldonado lying on Espinacitas Street, in the 1800 block, the night of June 28, 2009, when he was shot and killed in a gang-related murder to which his assailant pleaded guilty.

The second showed a smiling, laughing, jovial 18-year-old interacting with friends and family.

While it was the latter the judge asked Maldonado's family to try to remember, it was the former stack of gruesome images that led Vigil to appeal to the family of Jonathan Villesange, the 17-year-old who pleaded guilty Wednesday to second-degree murder, to "take him back" from the gang life that has landed him in prison.

"As parents and as community members," Vigil said, "you've got to reclaim your children because we're losing them."

Santa Fe police have said Villesange, who has a history of violence including having shot a Santa Fe High School student in the hip, is a member of the West Side Locos gang. A search warrant affidavit filed in connection with the case claims he told his sister after the shooting, "I killed a Sureño."

Police have said Maldonado was a member of the Sureño 13 gang.

Vigil noted there are two other cases in the court in which an accused killer is a teenager. The others are that of 16-year-old Michael Trujillo, who stands accused of killing Chris Aguayo, 18, at the Santa Fe Place mall in July, and that of Jaime Carrera, an 18-year-old who is charged with killing Edward Herrera, 18, at a Santa Fe party in April.

Villesange, who was 16 when he killed Maldonado but agreed to be sentenced as an adult, pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree murder with a firearm, an enhanced charge that meant he faced a maximum of 16 years in prison.

According to Assistant District Attorney Shanon Riley, the state sought a six-year sentence in exchange for Villesange's guilty plea on the murder charge, and both parties agreed to drop additional charges of aggravated assault, conspiracy and tampering with evidence.

Villesange will get credit for 15 months already served in a juvenile detention facility and will be moved to an adult facility. With good behavior, he could be eligible to be released in about four years.

"I know they probably hate me and despise me for what I did," said Villesange, who was emotional while he tried to apologize to Maldonado's family.

"Is that going to give me my son back?" Lorena Ramos, Maldonado's mother, asked after the hearing.

Defense attorney Tom Clark said his client has expressed nothing but remorse since the beginning of the case.

"If he had his way," Clark said, "their son would be with them today."

That didn't seem to be much comfort to Maldonado's family on Wednesday.

His father, Pedro Maldonado García Ramos, said he didn't agree with the sentence but understood it was likely the best option his family had to move forward.

"I hope that you are conscientious that this young man did not have the right to take my son's life," Maldonado told the judge in Spanish.

He then had some words for Villesange.

"To the killer, I want to say that he changed our lives," the father said. "He left us traumatized and I hope that he one day repents of his actions."

State prosecutors are still pursuing conspiracy, tampering with evidence, battery and assault charges on 24-year-old Francisco Montoya stemming from the gang fight that led to Maldonado's death.

Staff writer Sandra Baltazar MartÍnez contributed to this report.

Contact Geoff Grammer at 986-3076 or ggrammer@sfnewmexican.com.