Thursday, January 13, 2000
Man tells police he didn't shoot
Tale doesn't match that of witnesses
BY DAVID ECK
Enquirer Contributor
HAMILTON — Manuel Ramirez Garcia, 21, of Hamilton told police that he didn't shoot Jose Juan Hernandez, even though Mr. Hernandez allegedly made offensive remarks to Mr. Garcia.
A videotaped police inter view of Mr. Garcia shortly after Mr. Hernandez was fatally shot on June 25 in Hamilton was played during Mr. Garcia's murder trial on Wednesday.
Mr. Garcia is accused of killing Mr. Hernandez.
“I would never do something like that because I have a heart,” Mr. Garcia told Hamilton Police Detective James Cifuentes through an interpreter, the tape shows. “(I'm) sure (I) shot into the ground.”
Mr. Garcia told the detective that Mr. Hernandez had been harassing him and that on the night of the killing Mr. Hernandez appeared in the 700 block of Buckeye Street in Hamilton with a gun. After a struggle, Mr. Garcia grabbed the gun, but shot it only into the ground.
Mr. Garcia told police he then ran away, still carrying the gun.
On the tape, Mr. Garcia said Mr. Hernandez was still standing when Mr. Garcia ran. He also said he was trying to defend himself against Mr. Hernandez.
But the tape shows Detective Cifuentes telling Mr. Garcia that witnesses say they saw him deliberately shoot Mr. Hernandez.
And on Tuesday, witness Mary Taylor said in court that Mr. Garcia shot Mr. Hernandez twice and then, while standing over the wounded man who lay on his back, shot him twice more.
Mr. Hernandez, 30, of Hamilton was taken to Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton, where he died.
In court Wednesday, Detec tive Cifuentes said he found the gun under a mattress in the house where Mr. Garcia was arrested. The gun had six empty shells, and there were four bullets near it.
Montgomery County Deputy Coroner Dr. Lee Lehman, who did an autopsy on Mr. Hernandez, said the victim had gunshot wounds to the neck, left forearm, chest, hip and thigh. He also said at least one of the wounds could have been a made while Mr. Hernandez was in a defensive position.
“The wound to the left forearm is a typical defensive wound,” he said. “It would not be a natural position walking down the street with your elbow pointed at somebody. He died as a result of multiple gunshot wounds.”
If Mr. Garcia is convicted, he could receive a life sentence.
Because he is a Mexican native and speaks little English, an interpreter is translating the proceedings into Spanish for him.
The trial is expected to conclude today.
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