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Wilber Oswaldo Nunez-Menendez, 28, of Crownsville, was sentenced to 90 years in prison with all but 55 years suspended, with the first 10 years to be served without the possibility of parole, after admitting to a 2020 shooting at a company party.
According to Anne Arundel County State's Attorney Anne Colt Leitess, the fatal and non-fatal shooting of two men were reported at a construction company's get-together in November 2020.
Police say that on Nov. 14, 2020, officers were called to a home on Brick Church Road in Edgewater to investigate a shooting that left Ronal Alcidis Maldonado Quinjana dead and a 28-year-old man with gunshot wounds.
Witnesses state that they were attending their company’s outdoor party with food, drinks, and a bonfire that was hosted by their boss.
With co-workers and friends in attendance, one of their former co-workers was also invited and arrived with his nephew, Nunez Menendez, who got into a verbal argument with Quinjana while he was cooking.
During the exchange, Nunez-Menendez pulled out a handgun and shot the two several times, according to prosecutors. He then fled with the former co-worker in a pick-up truck, which led investigators right to him.
Police located a photo of Nunez-Menendez that matched the description of the shooter and he was also identified through a photo lineup. A warrant was issued, but Nunez-Menendez had fled the country to El Salvador, but he was unable to get away.
Nunez-Menendez was apprehended in El Salvador for possessing a handgun, and it was later determined he was wanted for murder and weapons offenses stateside. He was extradited back to the country in May last year and turned over to the Anne Arundel County Police Department by US Marshals.
Nunez-Menendez pleaded guilty in January to second-degree murder, attempted second-degree murder, and two counts of use of a handgun in a crime of violence.
“This is yet another example of a verbal dispute escalating to gunfire, which claimed the life of a father and husband and critically injured another father and husband who were both employees of the construction company,” Leitess said.
“(Nunez-Menendez) fled the country in an effort to elude justice, but thanks to great efforts by law enforcement, and of the surviving victim, (he) will be held accountable for his crimes.”
In addition to his prison term, a judge also ordered that Nunez-Menendez serve five years of supervised probation when he is released.
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