Fugitive in teen’s 2008 killing sentenced after capture in Mexico

David Manriquez’s loss is still felt at every family gathering.

Manriquez, 17, was shot to death by his girlfriend’s ex-boyfriend, who had forced his way into the woman’s home in July 2008, angry that she had moved on from their relationship that ended months prior.

Jonathan Romero, the man who authorities said killed Manriquez and fled afterward, was on the run for 16 years, living in Mexico. Hewas taken into custody in 2024 and extradited to Las Vegas in 2025, when he was charged with burglary with a deadly weapon, attempted murder, and murder.

In February, Romero pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and accepted a 20- to 50-year prison sentence — a punishment that Ruby Manriquez, the victim’s sister, said does not deliver justice after nearly two decades without her older brother, known as “Toons.”

On Wednesday, District Court Judge Michelle Leavitt handed down the stipulated sentence, and gave Romero 586 days of credit for time he already served in jail.

“All of this just opened the pain back up,” Ruby Manriquez said after Romero’s sentencing. “People expect us to be happy — and yes, we are glad he got caught — but happy is not the word.”

She added: “20 to 50 years for my brother’s life is never going to be enough.”

‘Living a new life while we’re suffering’

David Manriquez had been dating Jessica Zarate for about two months at the time of his death.

Zarate, who was Romero’s ex-girlfriend and the mother of his 7-month-old daughter, was at home with David Manriquez around 6:30 a.m., she told a grand jury.

She was leaving the house for work when Romero barged into her northeast valley residence, ran up the stairs, and pulled out a gun inside the master bedroom, where Manriquez was hiding inside the closet.

Romero opened the closet door and fired inside. When David Manriquez tried to run away, Romero shot him in the back of the head, according to Zarate.

David Manriquez was shot at least four times, police said. Romero ran out of the house after the shooting, according to witness testimony. Metropolitan Police Department detectives also testified that there was a blood trail from inside the house to outside on the sidewalk, several blocks down, ending where a car would have been parked on the street.

Former Metro homicide Lt. Lew Roberts, said at the time that the infant daughter Zarate and Romero shared was not inside the home at the time of the shooting. He also said that Romero was a gang member.

SWAT officers raided Romero’s home right after the shooting, but did not find him.

Metro cold case investigators were notified in 2024 that Romero had been arrested in Mexico. Ruby Manriquez said that Romero had lived in the country for years and even started a new family there.

“He was really out there living a whole new life while we’re here, suffering,” Ruby Manriquez said. “He has no remorse for what he did. There’s not even a semblance of him being sorry.”

During his Wednesday sentencing, Romero, 35, declined to speak, prompting Ruby Manriquez to mutter, “of course,” from where she sat in the courtroom gallery.

‘Remained young’

Ruby Manriquez said she regularly visits her brother at the cemetery and talks to his gravestone.

“I was 15 when he passed away,” Ruby Manriquez said. “Now I’m way older, but he’s just remained young.”

She and her father, Jaime Manriquez, described the 17-year-old as funny and loving. The father became choked up, talking about how David Manriquez had always been “the life of the party.”

The teen also had an infant son when he died. His child is 18 now, and a spitting image of his father, Ruby Manriquez said.

“He reminds me of him so much,” Ruby Manriquez said. “He acts like him even though he never got the chance to know him.”

Contact Akiya Dillon at adillon@reviewjournal.com.