The trial has begun for the man accused of killing a 16-year-old with a machete, dismembering him and putting him in the Green River.

On Jan. 29, at the Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent, Rudy Garcia-Hernandez, 35, whose last known address was in Federal Way, stood trial for first-degree murder following the May 2019 killing of Juan Carlos Con-Guzman, 16.

Garcia-Hernandez is an alleged member of the gang MS-13. His co-conspirator, Carlos Iraheta-Vega, is also charged with first-degree murder, but he will have a separate trial. The two are also suspects in another murder at a Chevron gas station, 1650 SW Dash Point Road, Federal Way, that occurred on Oct. 6, 2019.

Opening statements

Representing the state, prosecutor Brandy Gevers said that victim Juan Carlos Con-Guzman was 16, a student at Mount Rainier High School in Des Moines, and worked a part-time job at Taco Bell.

According to Gevers:

The ordeal began when the witness, who gained immunity for testifying and is referred to as ZO in court documents, got a call from suspect Iraheta-Vega. Gevers said Juan Carlos’ loyalty was in question, so he asked the witness to pick him up so they could fight Con-Guzman and settle the dispute.

ZO and Iraheta-Vega then picked up Gon-Guzman, and on the way to the Green River in Auburn, they picked up the other suspect, Garcia-Hernandez. Garcia-Hernandez then told the victim he was the one he heard had been hanging out with SSL members, a rival gang to MS-13. Gevers said Garcia-Hernandez did not like this disloyalty.

When they got to the river, Iraheta-Vega was the first to start hitting Con-Guzman, ultimately knocking him to the ground. He then followed with blows to his head with a baseball bat, which knocked him out. Garcia-Hernandez got mad at ZO because he was not attacking Con-Guzman, prompting ZO to start kicking Con-Guzman. Gevers said Iraheta-Vega and Garcia-Hernandez were trying to recruit the witness to MS-13.

“Garcia-Hernandez was standing off to the side, yelling. He’s yelling things like, this is what happens when you try to jump hoods,” Gevers said. “This is what happens when you try to move away from us. This is what happens when you move away from MS-13 toward SSL.”

Garcia-Hernandez then pulled a small machete out of his backpack and began attacking Con-Guzman with it because he said he was playing dead after he had been beaten with fists and a baseball bat. Gevers said that although Con-Guzman was unconscious when Garcia-Hernandez attacked him with the machete, he was still alive during that attack.

Police found the machete used to kill Con-Guzman. Gevers said crime lab scientists were able to identify it being the same machete used in the attack because marks on Con-Guzman’s body matched the blade.

Gevers said they would try and arrest Garcia-Hernandez, but his apartment had been vacated because he was planning to leave the state. However, she said they were later able to locate and arrest him at the Federal Way Winco.

Representing Garcia-Hernandez was Wissam Itani, who said the person really responsible for the murder was Iraheta-Vega, whom he referred to as his street name Joker, and the witness ZO. Itani said the witness desperately wanted to get into MS-13, and killing Con-Guzman was his way in.

Itani said the witness and Iraheta-Vega had problems with Con-Guzman, so they picked him up, beat him up, and then brutally murdered him. Itani said ZO and Iraheta-Vega communicated for weeks following Con-Guzman’s murder, and then when ZO was found to be involved, he conveniently claimed it was all done by Garcia-Hernandez. Itani said ZO claimed Garcia-Hernandez did it despite no evidence showing he was involved or ever there.

Itani said ZO had been seen with Iraheta-Vega a couple of months before the murder, and then a month before the murder, Iraheta-Vega told ZO if he wanted to join MS-13, he had to fight someone and possibly kill them. Itani said the pair then made their plan and carried out the murder.

Itani went on to critique how ZO had immunity from the crime, so he could not be charged regardless of his involvement. Itani said ZO tried to fix his story every time he was interviewed, and he was not even sure what his story would be when he testified.

“The state is tasked with making sure there is no reasonable doubt in your mind as to what happened on Sept. 10, 2019, to Mr. Con-Guzman. But there are tons of reasons to doubt, and you’ll have more questions than answers by the end of the trial,” Itani said. “I am confident, in this trial, you will see that ZO and Joker are responsible for the brutal murder of Mr. Con-Guzman, not Mr. Garcia-Hernandez.”