Guillermo Perez, Alejandra Munoz Face Trial in Rollerblading Parking Lot Murder

Prosecutors opened a session of the murder trial of Guillermo Perez and Alejandra Munoz by playing a recorded police interview of Munoz for jurors, showing investigators’ contention that a man on roller blades emerged from a vehicle and shot 70-year-old Richard Martin while he sat in his car outside FreshCo Foods at Shields and Brawley Avenue in West Central Fresno. The shooting occurred nearly four years ago; the trial is examining who was in the vehicle and why the killing happened.

Detective Ryan Rockwell, who conducted the interview, directly challenged Munoz during the recording. Rockwell told Munoz, “You’re the driver of a vehicle that was involved in a murder,” and added, “Alejandra, I’m going to let you know right now that’s not what the video shows. I know what you just told us is not completely truthful.” Rockwell also summarized investigators’ reconstruction in court: “A person on roller skates, roller blades comes out of your car and starts rolling around the parking lot,” and he pressed the point that “we have to know who that person on roller blades was.”

Jurors watched the recorded interview for about an hour as prosecutors presented it as new evidence. An Instagram item linked to the coverage displayed the label “53:50 Room Camera 2022-05-25 13:56:47 P,” a runtime-like notation that is slightly shorter than the hourlong description used at trial. The record shows Munoz grew frustrated during questioning, asked for an interpreter and walked out of the interview room; Rockwell later testified, “Albeit she had a thick accent, she understood.”

The prosecution’s motive theory involves a civil lawsuit. The victim, Richard Martin, had recently settled a case against a former employer who has connections to Munoz, and that employer testified before the jury the week prior. Prosecutors say those ties are central to proving why Martin was targeted; defense attorneys have sought to undermine investigative inferences linking Munoz to the parking-lot movements described by Rockwell.

Munoz’s attorney, Mark Coleman, pressed Rockwell on occupational details tied to the shopping center: “Did you establish that she painted virtually every store in that shopping center?” Rockwell conceded he did not know about every store but told jurors, “I don’t know about every store, but she did, in the interview you just watched, I believe she referred to painting at the FreshCo.”

The trial remains focused on identifying the rollerblading gunman, confirming whether the shooter came from Munoz’s vehicle and connecting motive to the civil suit settlement. More evidence is expected to be presented in the days ahead. For West Central Fresno residents, the case underscores persistent local concerns about public safety in shopping center parking lots, the handling of community violence by investigators, and the legal process that must answer who was responsible for Richard Martin’s death. The jury’s coming decisions will determine whether prosecutors prove the allegations against Guillermo Perez and Alejandra Munoz beyond a reasonable doubt.