Thread: Man gets plea in roommate's slaying

http://www.newsobserver.com/141/story/515489.html

Mandy Locke, Staff Writer
SMITHFIELD - German Toledo Garcia would never admit to fatally shooting his roommate in February 2005.
He's taking the blame anyway and will spend two more years behind bars for the death of Gerardo Reyels Lopez.

In a deal struck with prosecutors, Garcia pleaded "no contest" to voluntary manslaughter Monday morning in Johnston County Superior Court. Garcia is a Mexico native who has lived in the country illegally for about seven years. His conviction will ensure deportation after his prison term.

Garcia's attorney, Bob Denning, said the plea deal allowed him to avoid a trial.

Denning said he worried a jury would be prejudiced by Garcia's ethnicity.

According to the prosecutor's explanation of events, it's still not quite clear what provoked the late-night shooting. Detectives said at the time it was a domestic dispute.

Lopez was found dead in his pickup along a thicket of woods off Crantock Road in central Johnston County. His back window was busted out; he'd been shot twice in the head, prosecutor Ann Kirby told a judge.

Sheriff's deputies initially interviewed all of Lopez' roommates at their home in Smithfield. None, including Garcia, admitted knowing about it. Later, one of them told detectives he had given Garcia a ride from a location near where Lopez' body was found on the night he was killed.

A few days later, an anonymous caller told deputies that the killer was hiding at a Smithfield residence. Deputies found Garcia hiding in the barn at that address. The victim's cell phone was in his pocket.

Staff writer Mandy Locke can be reached at 829-8927 or mandy.locke@newsobserver.com.

Originally Posted by JohnB2012

http://www.newsobserver.com/141/story/515489.html

Mandy Locke, Staff Writer
SMITHFIELD - German Toledo Garcia would never admit to fatally shooting his roommate in February 2005.
He's taking the blame anyway and will spend two more years behind bars for the death of Gerardo Reyels Lopez.

In a deal struck with prosecutors, Garcia pleaded "no contest" to voluntary manslaughter Monday morning in Johnston County Superior Court. Garcia is a Mexico native who has lived in the country illegally for about seven years. His conviction will ensure deportation after his prison term.

Garcia's attorney, Bob Denning, said the plea deal allowed him to avoid a trial.

Denning said he worried a jury would be prejudiced by Garcia's ethnicity.

According to the prosecutor's explanation of events, it's still not quite clear what provoked the late-night shooting. Detectives said at the time it was a domestic dispute.

Lopez was found dead in his pickup along a thicket of woods off Crantock Road in central Johnston County. His back window was busted out; he'd been shot twice in the head, prosecutor Ann Kirby told a judge.

Sheriff's deputies initially interviewed all of Lopez' roommates at their home in Smithfield. None, including Garcia, admitted knowing about it. Later, one of them told detectives he had given Garcia a ride from a location near where Lopez' body was found on the night he was killed.

A few days later, an anonymous caller told deputies that the killer was hiding at a Smithfield residence. Deputies found Garcia hiding in the barn at that address. The victim's cell phone was in his pocket.

Staff writer Mandy Locke can be reached at 829-8927 or mandy.locke@newsobserver.com.

Please fax or email this to your elected representatives of NC and tell them our unsecure border contributed to this murder.

Wow, just two years for cold-blooded murder. This is beyond belief!

Anyone know who the D.A. was that offered up this ridiculous plea arrangement? This and other similar plea deals seem to becoming the norm vice the exception. For goodness sake, a home burglar receives 24 months in prison, not a cold-blooded killer! This country's illegal immigration problem is quickly destroying a lot more than our wallets, children's education, wages, national security, etc. - it's also destroying our sense of justice for the victims of crime!