He was charged for gunning down a well-known Chinese grocer in January of 2006 in Ladyville but earlier this month Dwayne "Juice" Cruz pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter. And today Cruz was sentenced to 20 years in jail by Justice Troadio Gonzalez.
The victim is 31-year-old Wen Gee Zheng who was killed around 7 pm on January 24th of 2006 at his store, Alex's Supermarket, on Marage Road in Ladyville. "Juice" Cruz along with Akeem Lord allegedly went to the store to rob Zheng but ending up shooting him twice. In his confession to police, Cruz said they were only able to steal $125.
He was originally charged with murder and robbery but both charges were dropped after he agreed to plead guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter.
And while it may seem that "Juice" Cruz was doing the noble thing when he pleaded guilty, the truth is that he really didn't have much a of a choice since Justice Gonzalez ruled that a caution statement which police recorded from "Juice" Cruz was admissible which would have made a conviction certain.
