Convicted killer apologizes for leaving children of Fresno County man without a father
A Fresno man was sentenced to 75-years-to-life in prison on Monday for the fatal shooting of Joseph Garcia Lara, a 31-year-old medical assistant and father of two children.
Reymundo Munoz, 38, who was on probation when the killing happened, was convicted on Aug. 16 of first-degree murder.
Police said Lara was shot and killed on Aug. 8, 2020 at about 1 a.m. in the area of 10th Street and Calwa Avenue.
Lara was talking with his grandfather and a cousin in the front yard when he saw two men, one of them Munoz, pass by. He went to talk with them and then the family heard gunshots.
Lara died at the scene.
His mother, Arlene Gonzalez, spoke at Munoz’s sentencing hearing Monday, saying she is still struggling to understand why her eldest son was murdered.
She described him as the family glue that held everyone together. He was also the one who encouraged her to go back to school to become a medical assistant, a job he had.
“It doesn’t make any sense, what was the motive, why did they kill him?” she said after the sentencing hearing. “He didn’t deserve this.”
Munoz apologized to Lara’s family, but offered little else as to why he killed him.
“I want to apologize for leaving his children without a father,” Munoz said. “But what happened happened.”
Senior Deputy District Attorney Amy Freeman called Lara’s death a “senseless act” for which Munoz should be appropriately punished.
Lara’s sister Alejandrina Rivera said she will miss her brother deeply.
“I relied on him a lot and it hurts to know he is not here,” she said. “It is painful to see how his kids are suffering. He had plans to change his life and be somebody different and that was all taken away from him.”
This story was originally published September 26, 2022 at 4:29 PM.
