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Kissimmee Man Acquitted in Shooting Death


Published: Friday, May 16, 2008 at 6:06 a.m.
Last Modified: Friday, May 16, 2008 at 6:50 a.m.

Ricardo Jose Vazquez was found not guilty Thursday of second-degree murder in the shooting death of an 18-year-old man in Poinciana in 2006.

Jurors deliberated about 2 1/2 hours before acquitting Vazquez, 26, of Kissimmee.

Rafael Beltran was shot to death after an argument broke out between a group of men at a home on Linnet Court in Poinciana on Sept. 28, 2006, according to the Polk County Sheriff's Office. A man pulled a 9-mm handgun and fired several rounds at Beltran..

Vazquez was arrested two days after the shooting at a motel in Kissimmee.

He was initially charged with first-degree murder and three counts of attempted first-degree murder.


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