Suspect in 2019 Palmetto Murder Extradited From Mexico to Face Charges

A man wanted in connection with a 2019 homicide in Palmetto has been extradited from Mexico and is now in custody in Manatee County, according to the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office.

Irving Zuniga, 27, was taken into custody in Mexico City on Jan. 10 following a multi-agency investigation. Authorities said he was deported to the United States the same day and transported back to Manatee County, where he was booked into the Manatee County Jail on a charge of second-degree murder.

Deputies responded during the morning hours of June 29, 2019, after discovering the body of 18-year-old Jesus Molina lying in the grass in the 1200 block of 61st Street East in Palmetto. Investigators determined Molina had suffered a gunshot wound to the head.

Detectives said Zuniga and Molina had been outside a residence in the 1200 block of Martin Luther King Place when an argument began. During the confrontation, investigators allege Zuniga shot Molina and later transported the body before leaving it along a roadside in a remote area.

A warrant was issued for Zuniga’s arrest, but authorities said he evaded capture and fled Manatee County. Investigators later learned he had left the country and was living in Mexico.

Last week, investigators received information indicating that Zuniga was in Mexico City. With assistance from local law enforcement and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Zuniga was apprehended and deported to Miami, where sheriff’s office detectives and FBI task force members took him into custody before transporting him back to Manatee County.

Zuniga is being held without bond as the case proceeds through the court system.