On a summer morning in the Bronx, 40-year-old Luis Garcia’s life was brought to an abrupt and violent end. It was around 8:40 a.m. on July 23, 2015, in the Melrose section of the borough, when a man approached Garcia from behind on Westchester Avenue, near East 152nd Street, and shot him in the head. The brazen daytime attack, which was captured on surveillance video, showed the shooter walking up to Garcia and taking aim before firing.
Officers arriving at the scene found Garcia unconscious and unresponsive just two blocks from his home. He was rushed to Lincoln Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The initial investigation left the motive for the shooting unclear, and authorities sought the public's help in identifying the suspect seen in the video wearing dark shorts, a black and grey shirt, and a black hat.
Months later, an arrest was made in the case. The suspect was identified as Unique Woodfin of Harlem. Investigations revealed that the shooting stemmed from a dispute that occurred a month prior between Garcia and an associate of Woodfin's, Florencio Pinos. It was determined that Garcia had previously menaced Pinos with a gun and stolen his vehicle. Pinos was a co-defendant in the case until he passed away from an illness in 2017.
In April 2022, Unique Woodfin was sentenced for his role in Garcia's death. A jury found him guilty, and a Bronx Supreme Court Justice sentenced him to 22 years to life in prison for second-degree murder and 18 years to life for second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, with the sentences to run consecutively.
