A man who was sentenced to three decades’ imprisonment in July for shooting a woman and her daughter following a brawl between teenagers will not have to pay restitution because prosecutors were unable to produce medical receipts from his victims.
Miguel Marrero pleaded guilty in February to shooting a woman and her then-15-year-old daughter at the Candido Guadalupe housing community in 2024 on St. Croix. A video of the incident was shared widely on social media, and it appeared to show Marrero encouraging his son to fight the minor shooting victim. The girl’s mother then confronted Marrero and slapped him twice before walking away, at which point he pulled out a gun and shot her in the back before firing more shots at the fleeing group of teenagers.
The minor victim was shot in the ankle and knee, and her mother received damage to her spine, colon, kidney and large intestine. She was treated at Juan F. Luis Hospital before being airlifted to a hospital in Miami, and she remained in a wheelchair at the time of Marrero’s sentencing. U.S. District Judge Wilma Lewis sentenced him to a total of 30 years in prison for discharging a firearm during a crime of violence, being a felon in possession of a firearm and two counts of first-degree assault.
The Mandatory Victims Restitution Act requires that those who are convicted of — or plead guilty to — certain crimes pay restitution to make their victims whole and compensate them for their losses. Prosecutors in this case were given until Aug. 18 to provide the court with documentation of the victims’ medical expenses and other losses, and they made approximately 19 attempts to reach the victims before that deadline, according to court filings.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Rhonda Williams-Henry told the court Thursday morning that while they were eventually able to reach one of the victims this week, they were unable to produce receipts.
Lewis acknowledged the MVRA but denied any restitution requirement because the court had no documentation to base it on. Lewis also did not impose a fine on Marrero after his attorney, Jason Gonzalez-Delgado, told the court that he had few, if any, assets and was unlikely to make enough money in prison, where hourly wages can be as low as 20-30 cents per hour. Lewis said that a number of factors come into play when determining a fine, including a defendant’s ability or inability to pay it. Despite his long prison term, Lewis said she didn’t believe Marrero would ever be able to pay any fine she imposed.
