18-year-old kills woman he tried to ‘scare’ in cocaine sales dispute, Florida cops say

An 18-year-old wanted to “scare” a 20-year-old woman he suspected of stealing his drugs, then he fatally shot her in her front yard, Florida authorities said.

Gael Garcia-Castro ran away with a witness and jumped in an Uber, but he’s now turned himself in and been charged with second-degree murder, the Collier County Sheriff’s Office announced March 1. He’s also charged with tampering with evidence, court records show.

Family identified the victim as 20-year-old Emily Ruiz.

According to a probable cause affidavit, Garcia-Castro and a witness went to the home of Emily Ruiz to borrow her car to go get food shortly after midnight on Feb. 26.

Ruiz gave them her car keys out front, then as she went to go back inside, Garcia-Castro shot her once, deputies said.

The witness told deputies that as he ran away with Garcia-Castro, the 18-year-old said he only meant to scare Ruiz. Two people told deputies Garcia-Castro had a problem with Ruiz because he believed she stole cocaine from him and tried to resell it, according to the report.

Ruiz’s roommate came out to help her and said he saw someone running away, then first responders came to take her to a hospital, where she died about an hour later, deputies said.

Garcia-Castro turned himself in on March 1 and was booked into the Naples Jail Center, records show.

Ruiz’s friends told WBBH that Ruiz had a “pure” heart.

“Twenty years is not enough,” Kathyana Hernandez told WINK. “Twenty years is not enough to love somebody. I needed more, we needed more time to just love her.”

This story was originally published March 3, 2025 at 3:50 PM with the headline "18-year-old kills woman he tried to ‘scare’ in cocaine sales dispute, Florida cops say."