Five years after the alleged incident, the verdict in the case of a man accused of killing a 16-year-old with a machete was put in the jury’s hands as the defendant maintains that he was not even at the scene of the killing.

On Feb. 25, the state, represented by King County Prosecutor Jacqueline Lawrence, began its closing statement in the case against Rudy Garcia-Hernandez, 35, who has been charged with first-degree murder following the Sept. 10, 2019 death of Juan Carlos Con-Guzman, 16. Lawrence alleges 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.

Garcia-Hernandez is an alleged member of the gang MS-13. His co-conspirator, Carlos Iraheta-Vega, also an alleged MS-13 member, was charged with the same crime, but he will have a separate trial. The two are also suspects in another murder at a Chevron gas station, 1650 Southwest Dash Point Road, Federal Way, that occurred on Oct. 6, 2019.

The third man involved is the state’s witness — referred to as ZO in court documents — who gained full immunity from prosecution in exchange for his testimony. Lawrence said that evidence showed that ZO was not a member of MS-13 yet, but Iraheta-Vega and Garcia-Hernandez were recruiting him.

Lawrence said ZO never met Con-Guzman, but text evidence showed that ZO told Iraheta-Vega that he heard from his girlfriend that Con-Guzman was talking badly about him, talking badly about MS-13 and hanging out with rival SSL gang members. Lawrence said the death of Con-Guzman followed.

Lawrence said the evidence showed that the night of the murder, ZO 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 before going to the Green River in Auburn. 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.

Lawrence said the evidence and ZO’s testimony show that after the trio had been drinking and smoking weed with Con-Guzman, Iraheta-Vega got angry about Con-Guzman hanging out with another gang and began to beat him up. Lawrence said the trio eventually joined 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. Lawrence said ZO felt uncomfortable about what happened and during 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.

“As long as you find the testimony of Mr. Ortiz credible, you have found Mr. Garcia-Hernandez an accomplice to murder in the first-degree, and you must find him guilty,” Lawrence said. “Ultimately, evidence establishes all four elements of murder in the first degree beyond a reasonable doubt.”

However, Garcia-Hernandez’s attorney, Wissam Itani, claims that the evidence doesn’t show he was there, ZO’s testimony is unreliable and that the real culprits are 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 went on to tell the jury that they should be wary of ZO’s testimony because he has an interest in the case, and they should look at the other evidence to see if it corroborates his testimony. Itani said the jury should not find Garcia-Hernandez guilty of ZO’s testimony alone unless they find it truthful beyond a reasonable doubt.

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 the state’s rebuttal, 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.