Jury acquits man in a 2017 killing that remained unreported for six months

Jurors on Wednesday acquitted Raul Garcia in the 2017 shooting death of a man whose body remained undiscovered for months after his death.

Police had been unaware that Juan Cedeno had been killed until months after the homicide when Garcia’s wife, who was arrested on unrelated charges, agreed to lead them to Cedeno’s body, prosecutors told jurors in Garcia’s trial.

Garcia, 42, was charged with first-degree murder and other charges for allegedly fatally shooting Cedeno, dumping his body on the West Mesa and stealing his car and credit cards.

However, jurors found Garcia guilty of one count of tampering with evidence for disposing of Cedeno’s body.

Jurors deliberated about three hours Wednesday following the 2nd Judicial District Court trial before Judge Clara Moran.

Prosecutors and defense attorneys sparred in closing arguments Wednesday over the credibility of Garcia’s wife, Zuly Carrillo, who was the key witness against her husband.

Garcia and Carrillo were arrested on Nov. 30, 2017, after Albuquerque police observed them driving away from a Domino’s pizza restaurant the couple allegedly robbed at gunpoint, according to federal court records.

Carrillo and Garcia were driving Cedeno’s car at the time of their arrest. Prosecutors said investigators found traces of Cedeno’s blood in the car.

Carrillo told investigators in April 2018 that Garcia had fatally shot a man and dumped his body on the West Mesa, she testified last year.

Garcia’s attorney, Stefanie Gulley, told jurors that Carrillo was the likely killer but agreed to implicate her husband.

“Ms. Carrillo has information about homicide, and she wants immunity,” Gulley said. Carrillo considered the information “her get-out-of-jail-free card.”

Assistant District Attorney Guinevere Ice responded that physical evidence supported Carrillo’s testimony that she was inside Cedeno’s car at the time he was fatally shot on Oct. 29, 2017.

The trial marked Garcia’s third in the case. Garcia’s first trial in 2024 ended in mistrial after he was hospitalized. Jurors failed to reach a verdict at his second trial in February.

Jurors this week viewed Carrillo’s recorded testimony from Garcia’s trial in February 2024. Prosecutors said that Carrillo couldn’t be found to testify in person this week.

Carrillo told jurors in 2024 that she was in Cedeno’s car at the time of the killing and saw Garcia draw a handgun and fatally shoot Cedeno.

She also led them to a dump site at Central and 140th Street, where investigators found Cedeno’s remains in a roll of carpeting.

Garcia pleaded guilty in 2020 to federal charges in connection with the robberies and was sentenced to 18 years in prison, according to federal court records.