A joint investigation by special agents with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation has resulted in the indictment of three individuals who are charged in the murder of a Tennessee man whose body was found in a wooded area near Dalton, Ga.
At the request of 20th District Attorney General Glenn Funk, on March 6, 2017, TBI special agents joined agents with the GBI in investigating the death of 26-year-old Luis Antonio Lopez of La Vergne.
On Jan. 10, 2017, GBI began an investigation after the victim’s partially-burned body was discovered. During the course of the investigation, Agents determined the victim had been murdered in Davidson County.
The TBI said the investigation revealed that three friends of the victim, Hector Ruiz and Kevin Palacio of Antioch, and Roberto Viera-Aybar of La Vergne, were the individuals responsible for his murder and the disposal of his body.
On March 19, the Davidson County Grand Jury returned indictments charging Hector J. Ruiz, 30, Kevin Isaza Palacio, 27, and Roberto Josue Viera-Aybar, 27, each with one count of first-degree murder.
On March 25, Ruiz was served in the Davidson County Jail, where he has been incarcerated on unrelated charges. His bond was set at $500,000.
Palacio and Viera-Aybar are currently in a Georgia jail after being arrested on charges related to this case. Both have holds placed on them pending their extradition to Nashville.