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Greenfield Man Convicted of First Degree Murder With Special Circumstance of Lying in Wait for Killing his Supervisor

 

Monterey County District Attorney Jeannine M. Pacioni announced on Friday, October 14 that a Monterey County jury found Imeldo 28-year-old Ramirez Merino of Greenfield, guilty of first degree murder. The jury also found true a special circumstance that Merino intentionally killed Benito Godinez Canales by means of lying in wait with personal use of a firearm. The jury further found Merino guilty of two counts of shooting at an inhabited dwelling.


On the evening of May 23, 2019, Merino fired several .45 caliber rounds in the direction of two homes, located in densely populated residential neighborhoods in the city of Greenfield. Apparently, people who lived in the homes had “beef” with Merino’s friend or owed the friend money. Merino fired from the passenger seat of his friend’s car during the drive-by shootings. (The friend was prosecuted separately and is currently serving time in state prison.)


Very early on the morning of July 31, 2019, Merino texted and called his minor brother to coordinate picking him up from his home in Greenfield. Merino planned to drive down to an agricultural ranch located in south Monterey County not far from King City. Merino worked as a daytime irrigator at the ranch. He had a history of not showing up to work and his foreman Benito Canales Godinez wrote him up on several occasions. The day before, on July 30th, Canales suspended Merino from work. Merino planned to murder Canales and wanted to bring his little brother with him when he did so.


Merino drove his little brother and himself to the ranch. He arrived at the approximate location of the murder at about 4:53AM. Once he arrived, he waited until he spotted Canales driving on a levee road in his distinctive white GMC flatbed pickup truck, checking water pumps along the way.


At about 5:30AM, Canales stopped to check the proper functioning of a water pump. Merino parked his car not far from the white GMC truck driven by Canales. Merino exited his car, walked up to the passenger side of the GMC truck, and shot Canales dead, eight times, emptying the magazine of his .45 caliber Kimber Pro Carry II semiautomatic pistol.


Immediately after the murder, Merino drove to a convenience store in Greenfield and treated himself and his brother to a celebratory coffee. Video surveillance captured them both laughing and smiling while they chose their coffees and snacks.


The Honorable Rafael Vazquez presided over the trial and will sentence Merino at 8:45AM in Department 5 on November 29, 2022. Based on the convictions and enhancements found true, Merino faces a state prison sentence of life without the possibility of parole.


The murder was primarily investigated by Sergeant Joshue Partida of the King City Police Department and Detectives Aras Wilson, Jesse Reyes, Rosy Silva, and retired Detective Bret Speirs of the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office. Sergeant Jorge Gutierrez of the Greenfield Police Department assisted with the investigation when he was previously employed as an investigator with the Monterey County District Attorney’s Office. Investigators Pablo Andrade and Jose Lopez of the Monterey County District Attorney’s Office also assisted with the investigation of the murder and the drive-by shootings. Sergeant Partida, as well as Investigator David Doglietto and several other officers from the Greenfield Police Department investigated the drive-by shootings. Victim Advocates Yanine Velazquez and Susana Reyes supported Canales’s surviving family members throughout the case.

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