Teenager accused of killing 14-year-old over vaping products asks for bail – NBC 6 South Florida

A deal selling e-cigarette products ended fatally when the suspected seller shot the 14-year-old buyer in the chest.

The shooting took place in a park in southwest Miami-Dade in 2021. William Garrido, then 17, began chatting with Angelo Guzman on Snapchat.

The teenagers had arranged to meet in a park because Guzman wanted to buy $200 worth of e-cigarette products, including cartridges, batteries and e-cigarette pens, police said.

However, according to the records, Guzman tried to pay Garrido with counterfeit money. Then Garrido allegedly started shooting.

Last year, police arrested Garrido two years after the shooting. After nearly a year in jail, Garrido is requesting house arrest or bail.

On Wednesday, defense attorneys tried to argue that there was no direct evidence that Garrido was the shooter.

“The gun was found and they can trace it back to that shooting. The gun was not found on Mr. Garrido or anyone associated with Mr. Garrido, but on a completely different person in Homestead who has since fled,” Richard Gregg, one of two attorneys representing Garrido, said during a hearing in Arthur. “They can’t find him and yet they are not investigating him and filing charges against our client.”

How Garrido obtained the stolen gun used in Guzman’s murder is unclear, but prosecutors are convinced he was the shooter.

According to police, cell phone data can be used to track the defendant near the crime scene before and after the shooting. They assume that he also posted about the murder weapon on social media. Through search warrants, they also found a box of ammunition in his room.

“The stamp on the packaging found at the crime scene clearly matches the brand of the box found in his room,” said the lead investigator in the case.

A judge did not make a decision on Wednesday because she wanted to review further evidence.