Eric Jose Garcia, Miami man shoots dead two men, after refusing to move their pick-up truck along a Redland plant, blocking his truck. Suspect believed he was within his rights to ‘execute’ the two victims, Juan Miguel Menjivar and Jose Wilian Galdamez Menjivar.
A Miami, Florida man is accused of ‘executing’ two men at a plant nursery after they refused to move their truck blocking his way.
Eric Jose Garcia, 35, is alleged to have shot dead Juan Miguel Menjivar, 53, and Jose Wilian Galdamez Menjivar, 40, on Sunday around 5 p.m., after the two men refusing the suspect’s demands to move their pick-up truck at a Redland plant nursery located at 21495 Southwest 240th Street.
Following his arrest, Garcia was charged with two counts of second-degree murder, the Miami-Dade Police Department stated.
Suspect believed he was justified in ‘executing’ his victims
The crime scene was described as being in an agricultural mixed-use area in Miami-Dade’s Princeton neighborhood with greenhouses and nurseries, WPLG reported.
According to an arrest report, officers responded to the property following a 911 call shortly after 5 p.m. and met with Garcia, who said he’d shot two people who were dead, NBC Miami reported.
Garcia told investigators he was driving his pick-up truck on a dirt road on the property when he came across the men’s parked pickup truck, which was blocking the road on the property.
Garcia said he parked his vehicle behind their truck and that they move the truck, only for the victims to allegedly reply no.
Garcia according to an arrest affidavit claimed one of the men, who were both standing outside their truck, slammed a beer bottle on his hood, with the suspect saying he felt the two men were getting too close to his door, which was partially open.
Garcia said he then got out of his truck and started firing his gun. Garcia allegedly continued shooting and chasing after the men, even as the victims tried to run away.
Garcia reportedly told deputies he continued shooting at both victims ‘because he wanted to execute them both, ensuring that they were dead.’ A witness saw the whole incident unfold, police said.
The defendant called 911 and stayed on the scene. Cops rushed to the scene to find the two victims suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. Paramedics pronounced the two men dead.
Detective Angel Rodriguez, a spokesman for the Miami-Dade Police Department, said the suspect believed he was ‘within his rights’ in shooting the two men dead.
‘The three were involved in an altercation which escalated when a firearm was produced and shots were fired,’ Rodriguez wrote in an email to WPLG.
After his interview, cops took Garcia into custody as they didn’t believe he was justified in shooting the men. He remains in jail without bond. Court records did not list an attorney for the defendant.
