Bradenton man avoids conviction in fatal gang shooting cold case, records show
A Bradenton man avoided a murder conviction in a cold case murder that prosecutors said stemmed from gang violence that dates back nearly 20 years.
A jury acquitted Pedro Garcia, 43, of second-degree murder with a firearm in the June 2006 killing of 20-year-old Guadalupe Vela after a three-day trial at the Manatee County Judicial Center, court records show. The jury’s decision came despite evidence from several witnesses who said Garcia admitted to the shooting after it happened.
Prosecutors alleged the shooting was the result of a dispute between rival gang members that began earlier that night at a Bradenton bar and later escalated.
An attorney representing Garcia did not immediately respond to the Bradenton Herald’s request for comment.
Garcia was arrested in January 2023 after Manatee County Sheriff’s Office detectives reopened the decades-old case when they said new witness statements tied him to the shooting.
According to an arrest report, Vela and his brother were drinking at Santa Fe Bar and Grill in the 800 block of 301 Blvd. E. the night of the shooting. Investigators said an argument broke out inside the bar between Vela and Garcia, who deputies described as a known member of the East Side Crip gang.
Gang dispute leads to fatal shooting, prosecutors say
Detectives said a witness told them Vela and his brother flashed gang signs inside the bar, prompting the owner to have security remove them. As they were escorted outside, the brothers continued yelling threats toward Garcia, investigators wrote.
Deputies working security in the area responded to a disturbance near the neighboring Shell gas station, where Vela told law enforcement that other people were “trying to start” a fight with him, according to the report. Investigators said Vela then drove away from the area alone.
A short time later, detectives said Garcia and another man encountered Vela in the 100 block of 33rd Avenue East.
Another argument followed, and investigators alleged Garcia opened fire as Vela tried to flee. According to the report, Vela ran from the street around the side of his house toward the backyard, where investigators said bullets struck him twice in the back. Deputies later found Vela dead in the backyard near an above-ground swimming pool.
Deputies recovered 18 spent 9 mm shell casings from the roadway, along with an unfired 9 mm round that investigators said showed evidence of an attempted shot, according to the arrest report.
Several months later officers found a Tec-9 9 mm handgun in the vehicle Garcia was driving during a traffic stop, and he was arrested on a charge of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
Bradenton cold case remains unsolved
Investigators said their case relied heavily on witness statements gathered years after the killing. According to arrest records, one witness told detectives Garcia remarked days after the shooting, “We killed that b**** the other day,” while another said Garcia told him he had “shot a big hole in him.”
A third witness allegedly told investigators Garcia told them he followed Vela home after the earlier confrontation and fired repeatedly, saying he “shot the whole clip on him” near the backyard pool, according to an arrest report.
Garcia pleaded not guilty, and the case moved through several court hearings before going to trial in October, court records show.
After three days of testimony and evidence, jurors returned a not guilty verdict on Oct. 17, and the court formally adjudicated Garcia acquitted, records show.
Garcia still faces a separate second-degree murder charge in the 2014 killing of Samuel Conde, a case that remains open and pending in Manatee County court records.
Prosecutors allege Garcia shot and killed Conde, who was 23, during a December 2014 gang-related shooting in East Bradenton. Detectives said the location where they found Conde’s body is where people would go to buy beer illegally after other bars closed.
Investigators have said the case went unsolved for years after witnesses initially refused to cooperate.
Garcia was arrested in that case in 2022 after detectives said new witness information led them to identify him as the shooter.
Garcia is also facing multiple felony drug charges stemming from a 2023 undercover investigation by Bradenton police, including counts of trafficking in fentanyl, conspiracy to traffic fentanyl and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. That case remains pending, court records show.
