Dalton Police continue investigating a murder cold case from 2002.
On September 13, 2002, two gunshots rang out inside a Dalton grocery store. A witness driving past the Tienda Ruiz store on Murray Avenue heard the gunfire and stopped in time to see a man run out of the store and escape down nearby Matilda Street. Too frightened to get a good look at the suspect, the witness stopped his car and ran inside to find a man unresponsive on the floor, dying from a gunshot wound.
Timoteo Ruiz-Leon, 31, was gunned down at 10:21 a.m. inside the Tienda Ruiz at 1000 East Murray Avenue. His murder was never solved, but investigators from the Dalton Police Department and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation have not given up their hunt for the killer.
Each year, the police department reviews and renews the investigation of a number of cold cases that remain open. As part of a new review of this investigation, Dalton detectives are asking for any information that the public may have on the murder.
“We have physical evidence from the scene, but we’re looking for that one piece of information to break the case open,” said Detective Chris Tucker who is investigating the case. He was a patrol officer with the department in 2002 but did not work on this case at the time. “A lot of times, suspects will brag about being involved in this kind of crime to get street cred and we think there are people out there who know who is responsible.”
Investigators believe that robbery was the motive for the crime. The store, which closed in the years since and is now a salon, cashed checks for customers and therefore had cash on the premises. Police are unable to estimate how much money the suspect might have been able to get away with. Investigators do know that the suspect used what they’re calling a “large caliber weapon” in the crime.
While the first witness did not get a good look at the suspect, a second witness inside a nearby store told police at the time that she saw a “light-skinned” male run from the business after she heard the gun shots. She was unable to tell police the ethnicity of the suspect, only that he had light skin. The suspect was wearing a black knit cap pulled down over his ears and navy blue shirt and pants.
“This is a case that still gets talked about in this town, and somebody knows who this person is,” Detective Tucker said.
Anyone who has any information about this case is asked to contact Detective Chris Tucker at 706-278-9085, extension 9-165.