‘Took away his dreams’: Idaho prisoner convicted for murder of another incarcerated man

Junior Garcia was looking forward to a lot when he got out of prison. But his grandmother’s birthday topped the list.

“That was gonna be his gift to her to tell her, ‘Hey, Grandma, I’m finally here,’” Garcia’s sister, Yecenia Diaz Rodriguez, told the Idaho Statesman on Tuesday.

Garcia never made it to his grandmother’s 80th birthday. The 26-year-old, whom his family remembered as a kindhearted, funny man, was beaten to death by two other men incarcerated at the Idaho Maximum Security Institution south of Boise in June 2023, a month before her birthday party.

Garcia was sentenced to a minimum of three years in prison for aggravated battery with use of a deadly weapon in 2020. He was granted parole on June 9, his fiance, Isabella Ramos, told the Statesman.

Juan Santos-Quintero Jr., who was already serving a life sentence , was convicted of the first degree murder in Garcia’s death Tuesday, according to the Ada County Prosecutor’s Office. A grand jury indicted Santos-Quintero on the charge in September. He was eligible for parole in December 2044 and convicted of nearly a dozen felonies, including robbery, burglary and enhancements for assault or battery upon certain personnel.

The other man, Joshua Pedroza, who was tied to Garcia’s death, pleaded guilty to aggravated battery in February and was sentenced to an additional 15 years in prison, court records showed. He’s eligible for parole in 2033.

“Regardless of what he did, my brother was a human being,” Diaz Rodriguez, told the Statesman in an in-person interview following the verdict. “He had family who loved him. He had a daughter, and they took all that from him. … They took away his dreams.”

Diaz-Rodriguez recalled Santos-Quintero as Garcia’s childhood friend and a constant presence in their house in Idaho Falls.

“I never thought that someone who lent you a hand so many times would have done what he did,” Diaz Rodriguez said, referring to Santos-Quintero.

For Ramos, losing Garcia also meant losing all the plans they’d made for when he got out of prison.

Ramos told the Statesman that Garcia was planning to move to Caldwell, where he planned to work in roofing, and was excited to show Ramos’ kids how to draw and play sports.

“Just be a part of life,” she said.

Garcia kicked dozens of times, prosecutor says

All three of the men — Garcia, Santos-Quintero and Pedroza — were part of the same “walk,” or a group of up to 16 men, in the maximum security prison. On the afternoon of June 14, 2023, they outside in the prison’s recreational area when the attack occurred.

“This wasn’t some sort of frenzied attack,” Ada County Deputy Prosecutor Katelyn Skaggs said in court. “This was Mr. Santos-Quintero kicking the victim again, and again, and again,” as Garcia lay flat and defenseless on his back “not lifting a finger.”

Skaggs said Santos-Quintero kicked Garcia 45 times. During the five-day trial, the prosecution presented video footage of the assault and called several current and former correctional officers who witnessed the altercation. Images presented in court showed Garcia lying next to a cage in the recreational area, with his face covered in blood.

When Santos-Quintero was escorted out of the recreational area by the officers, he joked about the blood on one of his shoes, saying that he “didn’t realize they sold red shoes” in the prison’s commissary, IDOC Correctional Officer Forrest Knight said in court.

Santos-Quintero was sentenced to a maximum of life in prison but was eligible for parole in 2044, according to online prison records. With this newest conviction, he’ll at least receive another 10 years in prison and up to a life sentence without the option of parole.

Diaz Rodriguez said she hopes Santos-Quintero receives life in prison. Both Santos-Quintero and Pedroza will have to answer to God for their crimes, she told the Statesman.

Those charged with first-degree murder are eligible for the death penalty if prosecutors seek it and can prove “aggravating circumstances,” like if the murder was especially heinous. The prosecution didn’t file an intent to seek the death penalty for Santos-Quintero. He’s expected to be sentenced Oct. 7.

“All I hope is that my brother — now that we’re finally at the end chapter of this — that he’s resting in peace and that he got the justice that he deserves,” Diaz Rodriguez said.