Murder suspect in court
Mexican citizen faces extradition over 2010 shooting in Washington state
A suspect in a 2010 Washington state murder who was arrested Thursday in Vancouver faces possible extradition back to the United States.
Juvenal Moreno-Garcia, a Mexican citizen taken into custody pursuant to an arrest warrant issued under the Extradition Act, made his first appearance in B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver on Friday.
Stacey Repas, a federal Crown counsel, told a judge the allegation against Moreno-Garcia stems from March 26, 2010 in Sunnyside, Wash., several hundred kilometres southeast of Seattle.
“In essence the allegations are that on that date, five people entered a restaurant. They were armed and they confronted the restaurant’s occupants,” Repas said.
One man — 25-year-old Ramon Magna Mendoza — was shot to death and several others were wounded.
Repas told the judge that Moreno-Garcia, 25 years old at the time of the shooting, is a suspect in the case.
He said the accused’s role was to guard at the front of the restaurant, armed with an assault weapon and possibly a black handgun.
“And at some point during the events that led to the shooting and death of one individual and the shooting and wounding of others, Mr. Moreno-Garcia entered the restaurant and stood by the cash register near the door,” Repas said.
The charges laid in the case are first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder and first-degree assault. The prosecutor told the judge that the United States has 60 days from the date of the arrest to submit an extradition request to Canada.
From the time that an extradition request is formally received by the Canadian government, the federal justice minister has 30 days in which to consider whether to approve an extradition proceeding to occur, he added.
Repas said that he understood that the accused, who does not have any immigration status in Canada, also has an immigration process pending here.
The judge, noting that Moreno-Garcia did not have a lawyer, put the matter over to Sept. 12 to schedule another court appearance in the case.
Commander Scott Bailey of the Sunnyside police department said Friday that arrest warrants remain out for the other four suspects.
Bailey said he was a patrol sergeant who was on duty at the time of the murder.
“There were a lot of moving parts to it with a lot of witnesses, a lot of evidence. There’s been a lot of work that’s been put into this case.”
Bailey said there’s some indication drugs were involved in the murder.
Yakima County prosecutor Joseph Brusic said he was “exceptionally” interested in obtaining Moreno-Garcia from Canada.
“We truly believe he must face our criminal justice system here in Washington for allegedly being involved in an exceptionally serious crime here in Yakima County,” Brusic said in an email.