Bradenton man found guilty of murder after shooting father-in-law at point-blank range
A jury convicted a Bradenton man of murder for fatally shooting his father-in-law following an argument.
A Manatee County jury found Ruben Pioquinto, 32, guilty in the 2022 shooting death of 33-year-old Anderson Guerra Rivera, the State Attorney’s Office announced. Detectives say Pioquinto shot Guerra Rivera, who was in the passenger seat of his car, while they were stopped at a red light.
Pioquinto was convicted of second-degree murder with a firearm and aggravated assault with a firearm, according to court records.
The maximum penalty for second-degree murder with a firearm is life in prison, according to Florida Statutes. The crime carries a minimum mandatory of 25 years.
A sentencing hearing will be held at a later date.
Prosecutors say on Jan. 18, 2022, Pioquinto, his father-in-law and Pioquinto’s 15-year-old brother-in-law went for a drive in Pioquinto’s truck after the two men had been arguing throughout the day.
While stopped at a red light at the intersection of Ninth Street East and 30th Avenue East near a Bradenton Circle K, detectives say Pioquinto pointed a handgun at Rivera’s head and asked him “if he was afraid of dying.”
After Pioquinto’s father-in-law responded “no,” prosecutors say Pioquinto pressed the weapon against Guerra Rivera’s left temple and pulled the trigger. Guerra Rivera died moments later.
Investigators say Pioquinto then drove toward Terra Ceia, pulled over in the 200 block of 77th Street East in Palmetto and made the 15-year-old take Guerra Rivera’s body out of the truck and place it onto the side of the road in Palmetto. Detectives say Pioquinto left the body near the Terra Ceia Aquatic Preserve and the Sunshine Skyway Bridge.
On the drive back to their home in the 300 block of 21st Avenue West in Bradenton, prosecutors say Pioquinto stopped and made the boy get out of the truck and wash his hands in a standing body of water to get rid of the blood. Over the next hour, investigators say Pioquinto threatened the 15-year-old with the handgun and pointed it at him.
“He then threatened this 15-year-old witness that if he says anything to any family members that he will kill him as well,” Sheriff Rick Wells previously said at a news conference.
After returning home, Pioquinto reportedly fell asleep on the couch. A few hours later, detectives say relatives at the house began asking about Guerra Rivera’s whereabouts. They woke the teenager, who appeared upset, and he explained what had occurred earlier that night.
“My thoughts go back to the 15-year-old. This young kid who is sitting in the backseat, unaware that anything is going to take place. And to see that happen right in front of you. He is going to be traumatized for the rest of his life,” Wells previously said at a news conference.
After learning what happened from the 15-year-old, detectives say the family members then called 911 before leaving Pioquinto by himself in the home.
Pioquinto later came out of the house before the SWAT team arrived and was taken into custody, the Bradenton Herald previously reported.
Guerra Rivera’s wife, Elizabeth Pantaleon, previously told the Bradenton Herald that there was one thing her and her family wanted.
“The only thing we want is for there to be justice,” Pantaleon said before breaking down sobbing again outside the courthouse at a 2022 bond hearing. “We want justice.”
Nearly three years later, Pioquinto was found guilty of murder in a four-day trial presided over by Manatee County Circuit Court Judge Teresa Dees.
“We are pleased with the jury’s verdict holding the defendant responsible for his horrific actions. While nothing can undo the trauma he inflicted on this family, they can now move forward in life with a sense of justice,” said Assistant State Attorney Charlie Lawrence, the lead prosecutor in the case.
