Joshua Pedro Pelico, a 19-year-old Hispanic male from Dalton, Georgia, was a recent graduate of Northwest Whitfield High School. On the night of Saturday, August 24, 2024, his life was cut short in a quadruple homicide at a local park. Around 11:15 p.m., Whitfield County sheriff's deputies responded to reports of gunfire at Pleasant Grove Park. When they arrived, they discovered the bodies of four young men who had been shot to death: Pelico; his friend David Antonio Delgadillo, 21, also of Dalton; and two others from Rome, 17-year-old Daniel Segura-Cruz and 18-year-old Robert Valencia.
Investigators determined that the four had met at the park for a prearranged meeting. Pelico and Delgadillo were there to meet the group from Rome, which included Segura-Cruz and Valencia, for what was described as a transaction involving contraband. Prosecutors would later argue that it was an attempted robbery designed to look like a drug deal. Evidence at the scene, including multiple types of shell casings, indicated that both groups had arrived armed and that a shootout had occurred. Authorities stated early on that they did not believe the incident was gang-related.
The investigation quickly led to an arrest. A 16-year-old from Rome was taken into custody and charged with four counts of felony murder. He was later identified as Juan “Diego” Cruz-Duque. In November 2024, a grand jury indicted Cruz-Duque on twelve counts, including felony murder, armed robbery, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. The indictment alleged that he had driven Segura-Cruz and Valencia to the park and fired a weapon at Pelico and Delgadillo in an attempt to rob them of vape pens and money. A second suspect, 18-year-old Andres Jared Guzman, was arrested in Rome in February 2025 and also charged with murder.
Sometime before Guzman’s trial, Juan Diego Cruz-Duque pleaded guilty to four counts of felony murder for his role in the killings. He then became the prosecution's primary witness in the case against his alleged accomplice.
Andres Jared Guzman’s trial began in late August 2026. The prosecution’s case relied heavily on the testimony of Cruz-Duque, who detailed the events of the fatal encounter. However, the jury was ultimately not convinced by his account. In September 2026, a Whitfield County jury found Andres Jared Guzman not guilty of felony murder.
