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PALMETTO, Fla. - A Palmetto man wanted for the murder of an 18-year-old in 2019 was arrested in Mexico and returned to Florida to face second-degree murder charges, according to the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office.
Irving Zuniga, 27, was taken into custody in Mexico City on Saturday after a multi-agency investigation.
Courtesy: Manatee County Sheriff’s Office.
The backstory:
Early in the morning on June 29, a bystander found the victim, 18-year-old Jesus Molina, lying in the grass near the 1200 block of 61st Street East.
Deputies responded and located Molina dead with a gunshot wound to the head.
The investigation later revealed that Zuniga and Molina got into an argument before the shooting. Deputies say that Zuniga shot Molina in the head before taking his body and dumping it along the road in a remote area.
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Zuniga was able to evade capture for several years before deputies later learned that he had fled to Mexico.
Timeline:
Undercover detectives began coordinating with FBI agents in the summer of 2025 and last week, they were able to locate Zuniga in Mexico City.
After being arrested, he was deported to Miami and detectives then transported him back to Manatee County.
Zuniga is being held on no bond.
The Source: Information for this story was provided by the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office.