Hector Zuniga-Martinez is charged with the July 4, 2003, fatal shooting in the former Brookwood Apartments in Carrollton. Zuniga, 31, was arrested in 2011 in Dallas, Texas.
Because Zuniga has been in jail for 90 days and has not been indicted yet, the judge was required to grant him a bond. Judge John Simpson granted the defendant a $400,000 bond. Assistant District Attorney Anne Allen requested a high bond for the defendant, saying he had fled and has no ties to the community.
Zuniga was denied bond several months ago, when Assistant District Attorney John Cunningham said he fought extradition from Texas for more than a year.
“He has vigorously fought extradition since 2011,” Cunningham said then. “It’s taken us a year to get him with us today.”
Zuniga is alleged to have shot and killed a man in the Brookwood Apartments parking lot in 2003. An investgation revealed that the altercation started as a fist-fight, but the suspect overtook the victim, produced a gun and shot him before fleeing the scene.
• In an unrelated case Friday, a man accused of trafficking more than 45 pounds of methamphetamine down Interstate 20 in February is planned to go to trial the week after Thanksgiving.
Carlos Mauricio Figueroa, 59, of Azusa, Calif., was granted a $25,000 bond in March, though the state strongly opposed him having a bond.
A representative of Figueroa’s attorney, Bruce Harvey, was in court Friday to announce on the case. The representative told Simpson that her office is in negotiations with the state, so the case may be resolved without a trial.
Carroll County Sheriff Terry Langley reported in February that the defendant was arrested following a routine traffic stop on I-20 eastbound.
Dep. Dep. Chad Sheriff had originally stopped the 2006 Ford F-150 for driving too closely and an improper lane change, but requested the assistance of a county K-9 unit after he noticed the driver, later identified as Figueroa, behaving suspiciously.
Officers with the Carroll County Interstate Crime Unit then discovered the meth, which was determined to have a street value of approximately $1.6 million, hidden in the vehicle’s cab and front fenders.
Langley said it is the belief of deputies that Figureoa was traveling through the area en route to Atlanta from San Antonio, Texas.
“I have no doubt this individual was a trafficker and a smuggler,” Langley said then. “It’s a huge, huge amount and we’re glad that it’s off the street.”
The 20 kilograms confiscated by deputies amounted to more than the sheriff’s confiscated for the entirety of 2010. Because of the large amount, Figueroa, if convicted, faces a minimum prison sentence of 25 years and fine of up to $1 million.
• Terri Gordon Morris, the former manager of Tanner Health System’s gift shops charged with theft by taking, had her case delayed Friday.
Morris, who is alleged to have embezzled $206,000 from the health system, appeared with her attorney, public defender Julie Moore, who asked for the continuance.
“There are several thousands of pages of discovery in this case, and I haven’t had a chance to go through it all yet,” Moore said. “I’d like for this to be continued to next year.”
The case was continued to 2013, with no specific trial date set yet.
Morris allegedly wrote company checks and deposited them into her personal account.
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