Inset: Ruben Pioquinto (Manatee County Jail). Background: Home in Bradenton, Florida, where Pioquinto lived (WTVT).
A Florida man will spend the rest of his life in prison for shooting his father-in-law to death in front of a 15-year-old boy, according to court records.
Ruben Pioquinto, 32, was convicted in November of second-degree murder in the 2022 death of 33-year-old Anderson Guerra Rivera. A judge handed down a life sentence to the defendant on Friday, records show.
The investigation began on Jan. 19, 2022, when the victim”s family called the Bradenton Police Department to report him missing and “possibly murdered,” a probable cause arrest affidavit said. The 15-year-old old witness, the victim’s stepson, told cops that Pioquinto had killed Guerra Rivera the previous night. He said Pioquinto was driving with the victim in the passenger seat and him in the backseat.
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At one point, Pioquinto fired shots in the air as he was driving and pointed the gun at another man outside the car that the boy did not know. Later, Pioquinto pointed the gun at Guerra Rivera. According to the Bradenton Herald, Pioquinto put the gun to the victim’s head asked him “Are you afraid of dying?” When Guerra Rivera said no, Pioquinto pulled the trigger and shot Guerra Rivera in the head.
“Point blank range, cold-blooded killing,” Manatee County Sheriff Rick Wells told reporters at the time.
Pioquinto drove off with the boy and the victim’s body in the front seat, per cops. The defendant drove to a bridge in the 5600 block of U.S. Highway 19 in Palmetto. Pioquinto pulled over and “ordered” the boy to remove Guerra Rivera’s body from the truck and onto the side of the road. The defendant pointed a gun at the boy and threatened to kill him if he told anyone.
While driving, Pioquinto slapped the boy and tried to bite him, cops noted.
They arrived back home and Pioquinto told the boy to lay down on the couch so “he could keep an eye on him.” The boy fell asleep and the next morning a family member asked about his stepfather. It was then the boy opened up about what happened the night before.
A jury convicted the defendant after a four-day trial in November.
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