MANATEE COUNTY, FL — After 16 years, a suspect has been charged within the 2006 homicide of Guadalupe Vela, who was 20 on the time of his dying, in response to a Manatee County Sheriff’s Office news launch.
Pedro “Pedico” Garcia, 40, was charged with homicide, not premeditated, in Vela’s dying, jail data present.
This is the second cold-case homicide cost in opposition to Garcia. In June of 2021, an arrest warrant for the 2014 homicide of Samuel Conde was issued for Garcia, MCSO stated.
Vela was found dead in the home’s backyard. Deputies collected several 9 mm bullet casings in the road, but potential witnesses of the shooting refused to speak with investigators, the agency said.
In October of 2006, Garcia was stopped for a traffic violation in the 1300 block of 9th Avenue West in Bradenton. Deputies found a 9mm gun in his car and arrested him for possessing a firearm as a felony.
Ballistics testing by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement later linked the gun to the crime scene where Vela’s body was found, though the rounds that hit the victim likely came from a different gun, the sheriff’s office said.
In the years that followed, separate witnesses told detectives that Garcia made statements to them about killing Vela, according to MCSO.
Last summer, detectives learned that Garcia, while in Manatee County Jail in 2015, confided to another inmate that he killed Vela, providing specific details about the night and crime scene, the agency said.
A prisoner at the Wakulla Correctional Institute told detectives in July of 2021 that they saw Garcia shoot Vela.
On Monday, MCSO Homicide Investigative Unit detectives obtained a warrant for the arrest of Garcia in connection with Vela’s death. Garcia, out on bond for Conte’s unrelated death, was found in the 800 block of 30th Avenue West in Bradenton and taken into custody.
Detectives believe Garcia may have committed other unsolved, violent crimes from the early to mid-2000s. Anyone with information about him is asked to contact MCSO at 941-747-3011. To remain anonymous and be eligible for a reward of up to $3,000, call Manatee Crime Stoppers at 866-634-TIPS or visit www.ManateeCrimeStoppers.com.