Man gets 20 years after shooting man in lottery line at Coral Gables Publix
Sobbing in court, the wife of a man who was killed in a Coral Gables Publix while standing in line to buy a lottery ticket recounted how she hasn’t been able to step foot inside the store.
Aymara LaGuardia, the wife of Franklyn Jose Pineyro, described Wednesday how she has mourned losing her husband nearly four years ago — and how her teen son lost his father, who often told his son about the importance of doing well in school.
“It’s very hard not to have him [with us] on his son’s birthday, on Mother’s Day, on Father’s Day, or on the Fourth of July, when he liked to [see] fireworks with his son,” LaGuardia said in Spanish. “It’s never going to be the same. Never.”
Osmel Lugo-Gutierrez, 55, was sentenced Wednesday to 20 years in prison for the Feb. 5, 2022, shooting inside the Gables Publix at 106 Ponce de Leon Blvd. that killed Pineyro, 49. In November, a Miami jury found Lugo-Gutierrez guilty of manslaughter in the shooting.
He was facing up to 30 years behind bars. Lugo-Gutierrez, who ran a construction company in Miami, has already been in jail for almost four years.
Before meting out the sentence, Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Christine Hernandez said Lugo-Gutierrez didn’t go to the Publix with the intention of hurting or killing someone, but that’s what happened when he took his gun out during an escalating argument with Pineyro.
“You pulled a trigger in that crowded Publix, and you ended a man’s life,” Hernandez said. “That decision that you made ruined the Pineyro family’s lives, your family’s lives and your life... It was a senseless tragedy.”
Pineyro, LaGuardia said, loved being a father — and their son has told her he hasn’t been able to cry since losing Pineyro. In between tears, LaGuardia asked the court for the maximum penalty.
“He was very happy,” she said in Spanish. “He had a desire to live.”
READ MORE: Arrest made after a man was shot dead in a Coral Gables Publix lottery line, police say
Before he was sentenced, Lugo-Gutierrez — with the help of a Spanish interpreter — apologized to Pineyro’s family.
“I didn’t want to cause pain to his family, or mine” he said in Spanish. “I didn’t want to take someone’s life or have mine ruined inside of jail.”
Lugo-Gutierrez detailed the events leading up to the shooting, saying he whipped out his firearm because he felt threatened. When detectives told him Pineyro died, he said he put his head down on the table because he “didn’t want to have in my conscience that I caused the death of someone.”
Gunfire in lottery line
Video footage from the Publix captured Pineyro buying Florida Lottery tickets in line when Lugo-Gutierrez approached him from behind.
The pair began to argue and stepped toward one other. Pineyro then “lunged toward [Lugo-Gutierrez] with an extended left arm and open left palm” while losing his balance and stumbling to his left, according to police.
When Pineyro regained his balance, Lugo-Gutierrez stepped back, but Pineyro got near him again, police say. That’s when Lugo-Gutierrez lifted the front of his T-shirt, pulled out a 9mm Glock 19 pistol from his waistband and shot Pineyro in the chest.
Pineyro wasn’t armed.
The shooting occurred on a Saturday evening, usually the start of the lottery line rush hour in stores and gas stations. A “notable line was forming” behind Pineyro, police said.
Two families torn
Facing the judge, Lugo-Gutierrez’s daughter Angelica Lugo, 24, said her father was always present, drove her to school and volunteered at her school events.
“The circumstances are heartbreaking,” Lugo said. “...This is [something] none of us would have wanted ever.”
Lugo said her 15-year-old sister is “very attached” to their father and has had a difficult time grappling with his incarceration.
“We will always be sorry for what happened,” Lugo said. “There is regret, and we are incredibly heartbroken...”
Lugo-Gutierrez’s wife Odalis Benavides held Lugo’s hand as Lugo addressed the court. Benavides recalled how her husband supported her in her journeys of learning English, attending Miami Dade College and later receiving a bachelor’s degree from Florida International University.
“He’s a great person,” she said. “He’s a great father... We are so sorry for what happened. It is unfortunate that the family has been suffering, and we are suffering too.”
Outside the courtroom, LaGuardia, Pineyro’s widow, told reporters she felt like Lugo-Gutierrez’s apology was not sincere but said she felt like she got justice for Pineyro.
Miami Herald staff writer David Neal contributed to this report