Boise man arrested on suspicion of second-degree murder in connection with body found in park

BOISE — The man accused of killing another man whose body was found in Ann Morrison Park Thursday morning had been questioned by police Wednesday in connection with another incident in the park.

Police and prosecutors believe Andrew Ray Garcia, 27, of Boise, is responsible for the death of 43-year-old Roque Leon Arellano, according to a news release from the Boise Police Department. Officers arrested Garcia early Friday morning, and he was booked into the jail on suspicion of second-degree murder just after 1 a.m. He is also charged with grand theft, due to his alleged possession of financial transaction devices, and destruction of evidence, according to court records; both of those crimes are felonies.

Police began investigating Arellano’s death Thursday morning not long after 8 a.m., after his body had been found in the southwest portion of Ann Morrison Park. Due to the nature of his injuries, they believed his death to be a homicide. According to the department’s news release, officers found evidence linking Garcia to Arellano’s death, which authorities believe occurred either late Wednesday night or early Thursday morning.

Officers had spoken with Garcia on Wednesday after another incident in the park, according to the release. In that incident, Garcia had an altercation with a different man. Garcia had a realistic-looking BB gun, and the other man had a knife, police say. While neither Garcia nor the other man was hurt during the incident, police booked both weapons. They did not, however, have enough information to make an arrest Wednesday, and so released Garcia, according to the department’s release.

Officers have confirmed the man involved in Wednesday’s incident is unhurt as of Friday morning.

Garcia is scheduled to appear in court Friday afternoon. This is an ongoing story and it will be updated later.