BRADENTON, Fla. — A man who authorities last summer identified as the gunman in a 2014 deadly shooting is again under arrest — this time for a 2006 cold case murder.
Pedro Garcia, 40, was taken into custody Monday and charged with murder for the June 2006 death of Guadalupe Vela, who was 20 years old at the time, according to the Manatee County Sheriff's Office.
Garcia was arrested at a home in Bradenton without incident, the agency said in a news release. He was out on bond for the 2014 murder after authorities identified him as the killer last June.
Deputies say Vela and Garcia, both members of rival street gangs, got into an argument in June 2006 at the Sante Fe Bar and Grill, located at 830 301 Boulevard East in Bradenton. Their back-and-forth continued outside before both men left the area.
Vela went to a family member's home in the area of 33rd Avenue East where he found Garcia. At some point, according to the sheriff's office, Garcia shot Vela twice in the back as he tried to get away.
Vela died in the backyard.
While deputies collected several 9mm bullet casings as part of the investigation, no one told authorities what happened that night, the sheriff's office said.
Garcia would be arrested in October 2006 during a traffic stop in Bradenton. A 9mm pistol was found in his car, and he was arrested for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, the sheriff's office said. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement later linked the gun to the crime scene, but the rounds that hit Vela likely came from another gun, the news release states.
Investigators through the years spoke with witnesses who said Garcia made statements about killing Vela, according to the sheriff's office. But it wasn't until last summer that authorities learned Garcia confided to another inmate in 2015 at the Manatee County Jail that he killed Vela and detailed the crime scene.
In July 2021, a prisoner at the Wakulla Correctional Institution in the Florida Panhandle told detectives he saw Garcia shoot Vela, according to the sheriff's office.
It's believed Garcia might be involved in other unsolved violent crimes from the early to mid-2000s. Anyone with information about Garcia or other cases is asked to call the Manatee County Sheriff's Office at 941-747-3011. To remain anonymous and potentially be eligible for a $3,000 reward, call Manatee Crime Stoppers at 866-634-TIPS.