Five years after the alleged incident, the man accused of killing a 16-year-old boy with a machete was found not guilty. But he still awaits trial for second-degree murder charge in a separate case.

After about two days of deliberation, a 12-person jury on March 3 found Rudy Garcia-Hernandez, 35, not guilty of the first-degree murder of Juan Carlos Con-Guzman, 16, who was killed on Sept. 10, 2019. According to King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office spokesperson Casey McNerthney, the only comments the prosecutors had about the acquittal were that they thanked the jury for their service and that they respected the court process.

Despite the acquittal, Garcia-Hernandez still remains in King County Jail as he awaits trial for a second-degree murder charge from a separate incident.

The second-degree murder charge stems from the Oct. 6, 2019, killing of Moises Vega-Mendez at a Chevron gas station, 1650 SW Dash Point Road in Federal Way, where Garcia-Hernandez was allegedly the shooter. Garcia-Hernandez and his co-conspirator, Carlos Iraheta-Vega, allegedly committed this crime because of their MS-13 gang involvement and desire to command respect for that gang, according to charging documents. MS-13 is also known as Mara Salvatrucha, a gang originating in California that was started by Salvadorian immigrants.

State and defense’s arguments

On Feb. 25, the state, headed by King County prosecutor Jacqueline Lawrence, presented her closing arguments, arguing that evidence showed that Garcia-Hernandez was guilty of first-degree murder. Lawrence alleged that on the night of the murder, Con-Guzman was beaten by three people, but Garcia-Hernandez is who pushed the beating over the edge, killing Con-Guzman with a machete, and then dismembering him over gang disrespect.

Lawrence said the evidence showed that the night of the murder, one of the three men who beat Con-Guzman, ZO — the name used in court documents for the state’s witness who gained full immunity for testifying — was called by Iraheta-Vega to be picked up in Burien, and subsequently, they picked up Con-Guzman in Burien, too, and lastly picked up Garcia-Hernandez in Federal Way. Lawrence said video footage and phone data showed that after picking up Con-Guzman, Iraheta-Vega called Garcia-Hernandez as they were nearing his home, and then video footage showed that ZO drove to Garcia-Hernandez’s home and then left before going to the Green River in Auburn.

Lawrence alleged that the group then went to the Green River and began drinking and smoking weed, but then Iraheta-Vega got angry about Con-Guzman hanging out with another gang and began to beat him up. Lawrence said ZO and Garcia-Hernandez joined the assault after Iraheta-Vega hit Con-Guzman with a baseball bat.

Lawrence said ZO testified that Con-Guzman was then murdered by Garcia-Hernandez, and he did it because Con-Guzman was pretending to be dead after being knocked unconscious. She added that in ZO’s testimony, he said during that the car ride back, Iraheta-Vega and Garcia-Hernandez were joking and laughing about the murder.

Lawrence said detectives later got Iraheta-Vega to cooperate, and he described his and ZO’s roles in the murder, and it matched ZO’s testimony.

However, Garcia-Hernandez’s attorney, Wissam Itani, claimed that the evidence didn’t show he was there, ZO’s testimony is unreliable and that the real culprits were ZO and Iraheta-Vega.

Itani said the jury must find that there is no reasonable doubt that Garcia-Hernandez truly did the crimes he is accused of to be found guilty. He said if the jury thinks maybe he was there, or it seems likely he was there, they must find him not guilty.

Itani critiqued ZO’s testimony, citing how his story changed multiple times. Itani listed various differences between the interviews, and he said ZO could not stop lying.

Itani also said there was no evidence that Garcia-Hernandez lived at the apartment complex where the state says he was picked up the night of the murder. Itani said police never got a warrant for leasing documents to confirm Garcia-Hernandez lived there, and then they set him up to be arrested across the street at WinCo to try and corroborate where he lives.

“ZO was able to lie his way out of getting arrested, he was able to lie his way into getting an immunity agreement,” Itani said. “Do not let him lie his way into convicting an innocent man.”

In her rebuttal to the defense’s argument, Lawrence explained that ZO is credible despite him gaining full immunity from prosecution because he has no reason to lie. Lawrence said the idea that ZO and Iraheta-Vega framed Garcia-Hernandez is not true because if ZO and Iraheta-Vega were attempting to frame Garcia-Hernandez, they did a bad job because they shared their involvement in Con-Guzman’s death.

Lawrence said that ZO certainly lied, but one thing that never changed was Garcia-Hernandez’s role in the incident, and she said ZO knew things that he would only know if he was at the scene. She said evidence further implicates Garcia-Hernandez’s involvement when he sent texts before the murder, telling a friend he needs to secure his home, and he asked the friend to take care of his family, indicating that he was not home during the murder and rival gangs or law enforcement would be looking for him.