Five Florida teens were arrested in connection to a manslaughter case in Mulberry. The case started with a 911 call to the Polk County Emergency Communications Center. Andres Garcia Pineda, 18, of Mulberry, called and advised dispatch that he accidentally shot one of his friends with a pistol.
Deputies arrived to secure the scene, and Polk County Fire Rescue Paramedics then treated and transported the victim Cesar Rosales, 19, of Mulberry, to the hospital, where he died of his injuries.
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Pineda stated he was at the residence with five other teens, including Mario Lucio Flores, 17, Luis Moreno, 16, Luis Castillo-Navarrete, 17, Carlos Guadalupe-Perez, 17, and the victim Cesar Rosales. The story goes that Rosales walked towards the rear porch of the residence near a sliding glass door. Pineda then picked up a 9mm pistol that was laying on the couch, pulled the slide back to see if it was loaded, and accidentally pulled the trigger. The round allegedly struck the sliding glass door shattering it, and ricocheted, striking Rosales on the right side of his torso. After the shot was fired, everyone except Pineda (and the victim) fled the scene, and one of the four teens took the pistol with them. Pineda then called 911 but called Rosales’ parents first!
Pineda was arrested at the scene and transported to the Polk County Jail, where he is being held on a $100,000 bond, charged with Felony Manslaughter.
The following day Polk County C.I.D. continued the investigation and met with the four teens present in the house when the shooting occurred. All four confirmed that Pineda accidentally shot Rosales but then decided to play dumb about the location of the pistol. Detectives searched a cell phone belonging to Moreno and discovered text messages sent by Castillo-Navarrete, who told Moreno “Not to talk about where the gun is.”
The teens finally admitted they took the pistol from the scene, stating after they fled the shooting, they went to Dollar General and purchased towels and rubbing alcohol to clean the weapon of fingerprints. They then went to Perez’s residence, cleaned the weapon, and then dumped it in a field. Detectives found the pistol where the teens said it was, in a Dollar General bag.
America’s Favorite Sheriff, Grady Judd, had this to say about the incident:
Here’s one more example of someone illegally possessing a firearm, and due to his gross negligence, a young man is dead. The other teens who tried to doctor up the evidence are also all being charged with felonies. This entire incident should never have happened.
All four of the teens were charged with various felonies, including Giving False Information, Tampering with Evidence, Tampering with a Witness, Unlawful use of a Two Way Device, and Possession of a Firearm While under the Age of 18. All four were transported to the Juvenile Justice Center.
Read more crime stories on Florida Jolt:
Florida Man Attempts Carjacking at Chick-fil-A – Gets Laid Out
Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Killed in the Line of Duty
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