New details come out in court after Bradenton father-in-law shot in truck at red light

After her husband was allegedly shot dead by their son-in-law, Elizabeth Pantaleon and her family only want one thing — justice.

The family filled several rows in a Bradenton courtroom on Thursday afternoon when Ruben Gutierrez Pioquinto, 29, made his appearance before a judge to face a charge of second-degree murder. Pantaleon and others cried as they watched Pioquinto on video conference as a prosecutor detailed the allegations.

Pioquinto, his father-in-law and a 15-year-old relative had gone for a drive in Pioquinto’s truck on Tuesday night. The two men had been arguing throughout the day, sheriff’s officials have said.

At some point during the drive, Pioquinto took out a gun and fired it out the passenger window, an assistant state attorney said. Pioquinto then also pointed the gun at a stranger.

While at a red light at the intersection of 9th Street East and 30th Avenue East, near a Circle K, Pioquinto pointed the gun at his father-in-law sitting beside him and pulled the trigger, the prosecutor said.

Pioquinto then drove towards Terra Ceia, pulled over in the 200 block of 77th Street East in Palmetto and made the teen take his relative’s body out of the truck and onto the side of the road, the prosecutor said.

On the drive back to their home in Bradenton, the prosecutor said, Pioquinto stopped again and made the boy get out of the truck again and wash his hands in a body water to get the blood off his hands. Pioquinto then allegedly pointed the gun at the teen and threatened to kill him and his family if he told anyone what had happened.

“Given those facts, it does appear that the defendant poses a risk to the community,” the prosecutor said.

Circuit Judge Matt Whyte denied Pioquinto bond, leaving it for the presiding judge over the case to take up at an Arthur hearing at a later time. At an Arthur hearing, both sides argue whether a 1980 Florida Supreme Court ruling can be applied to allow for the defendant to be held in pretrial detention without bond if “the proof of guilt is evident and the presumption of guilt is great.”

Pioquinto remained quiet throughout the hearing, with the proceedings translated for him by a Spanish interpreter.

Outside the courtroom, the victim’s family embraced one another and the sheriff’s office victim advocates.

“The only thing we want is for there to be justice,” Pantaleon said before breaking down sobbing again outside the courthouse. “We want justice.”