Santa Rosa man pleads guilty in 2003 shotgun slaying

Ruben Manuel Muniz shot a friend in the head at close range during an argument and left him on the sidewalk to die, prosecutors said.|
ROBERT DIGITALE
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

A 37-year-old Santa Rosa man will be sentenced to nine years in prison after pleading guilty Thursday to the nearly 14-year-old slaying of a friend on West Third Street.

Ruben Manuel Muniz pled guilty to voluntary manslaughter and the use of a firearm in the death of 30-year-old Danny Garcia, also of Santa Rosa, the Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office said Thursday.

The two men were friends but argued after a night of drinking and driving in December 2003. After stepping out of a vehicle on West Third, Muniz shot Garcia in the head at close range with a short-barreled shotgun. He left Garcia on the sidewalk to die.

Santa Rosa detectives questioned Muniz soon after the slaying. But the man didn’t become a suspect until about 10 years later when new evidence surfaced, prosecutors said in March. They did not reveal the new evidence.

Sentencing for Muniz is scheduled for June 30.

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