Man Gets 26 Years for Teenage Boy’s Fatal Shooting at San Diego Park

SAN DIEGO—A man who fatally shot a 15-year-old boy at Chicano Park was sentenced June 15 to 26 years in state prison.

Bryant Ruiz, 33, pleaded guilty to a voluntary manslaughter charge in connection with the Oct. 23, 2020, shooting death of Brian Romo.

Just before 10 p.m. that night, officers responded to a parking lot at Chicano Park, where a large crowd was gathered, according to San Diego Police Department Lt. Andra Brown.

The group scattered, including two people who jumped out of a silver sedan and ran off, Brown said.

The victim was found inside the car, suffering from at least one gunshot wound. Medics took him to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

At Ruiz’s arraignment, Deputy District Attorney Kyle Sutterley alleged the shooting was committed in retaliation for the murder of one of Ruiz’s fellow gang members, who was killed one day before Brian’s death. Ruiz, who was on parole and wearing a GPS ankle monitor due to his parole status, was tracked going from his home to the scene of the shooting and back on the night of Oct. 23, according to prosecutors.

Ruiz was arrested about five months later in connection with the shooting.

The victim’s older sister, Perla Castrejon, said at Ruiz’s sentencing that Brian would have turned 18 next month.

The boy was a sophomore at San Diego High School at the time of his death and Castrejon said she and other family members accepted his honorary diploma on Wednesday during the school’s graduation ceremony.

She said her brother was hanging out at Chicano Park on Oct. 23, as he typically did, and “That night, Bryant Ruiz decided to go to the park and shoot up whoever was there.”