Woman, 24, Sentenced For Fatal Stabbing, Carried Out At Behest Of Sureno Street Gang, Of Boy, 14,

MONTEREY COUNTY, CA – A 24-year-old woman was sentenced Thursday for a fatal, gang-related stabbing of a 14-year-old boy in Salinas more than three years ago, according to the Monterey County District Attorney's Office.

Angela Nichole Zuniga was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison for the second-degree murder of Ricardo "Richie" Ruiz on May 17, 2013, prosecutors said.

Last month, Zuniga pleaded guilty to the murder charge and an enhancement that she stabbed the boy to benefit the Sureno criminal street gang, according to prosecutors.

Zuniga, a Sureno gang member, was 21 years old when she killed Ricardo as he was leaving a taco shop with four other friends along East Alisal Street, prosecutors said.

On the afternoon of the murder, Zuniga took a bus with a friend from her hometown of King City to Salinas where they got off at East Alisal and California streets near downtown, according to prosecutors.

They saw Ricardo leave the taco shop at East Alisal Street and North Madeira Avenue with four other teenagers, prosecutors said.

Zuniga pursued the group with her hands behind her back and bumped her chest against one of the girls who was with Ricardo, according to prosecutors.

The woman then asked the girl if she was a gang member, leading Ricardo to interject in an attempt to calm down the defendant, prosecutors said.

Zuniga questioned Ricardo's gang affiliation and after he answered, she took out a knife and stabbed the boy twice in the neck while declaring she was a Sureno member from King City, prosecutors said.

Zuniga tried to carjack a woman parked in the area, but failed and instead ran away from the scene, according to prosecutors.

Ricardo was left with severe brain damage from blood loss and didn't respond to treatment when he reached the hospital, prosecutors said. The 14-year-old boy, a Salinas High School student, was removed from life support four days later, according go prosecutors.

Zuniga left the country after the stabbing and was arrested in Tijuana, Mexico on July 30, 2014, prosecutors said.

Zuniga's friend who accompanied her from King City to Salinas was taken into custody a month after the stabbing based on surveillance footage from the bus, but wasn't charged in connection with Ricardo's death,
according to prosecutors.

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--Bay City News/File photo