A Palmetto man wanted in connection with a 2019 homicide has been arrested in Mexico and returned to Florida to face second-degree murder charges. Irving Zuniga, 27, was taken into custody in Mexico City on Saturday following a multi-agency investigation and was swiftly deported back to the United States. He was transported to Manatee County, where he was booked into the Manatee County Jail on Saturday, January 10, 2026.
On June 29, 2019, at approximately 7:17 a.m., a passerby contacted the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office after discovering a man lying in the grass in the 1200 block of 61st Street East in Palmetto. Deputies responded and located a deceased male suffering from a gunshot wound to the head. The victim was later identified as 18-year-old Jesus Molina. The Manatee Homicide Investigative Unit (MHIU) assumed the investigation. Detectives determined that shortly after midnight on June 29, 2019, Zuniga and Molina were outside a residence in the 1200 block of Martin Luther King Place when the two began to argue. During the confrontation, Zuniga shot Molina in the head and later transported Molina’s body and left it along the roadside in a remote area. Probable cause was established to charge Zuniga with second-degree murder, and a warrant was issued for his arrest. Despite extensive efforts by MHIU detectives to locate him at known residences and frequent locations, Zuniga evaded capture. Detectives later learned he had fled Manatee County and was living in Mexico. In the summer of 2025, an MCSO undercover detective began coordinating with the FBI to locate Zuniga. Last week, investigators received information placing him in Mexico City. With the assistance of local police, FBI agents apprehended Zuniga. He was deported to Miami, where MCSO detectives and FBI task force members took him into custody before transporting him back to Manatee County. Zuniga is charged with second-degree murder and being held with no bond.
