More than two years after a deadly shooting at a Dalton park left four people dead, Juan “Diego” Cruz-Duque, 18, of Rome, has been sentenced to life in prison for his role in the case.
The sentence comes just weeks after another defendant, Andres Jared Guzman of Rome, was acquitted by a Whitfield County jury following a trial before Superior Court Judge Burt Poston.
This week, Juan “Diego” Cruz-Duque, was sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty to four counts of felony murder connected to the August 24, 2024, killings at Pleasant Grove Park in Dalton.
According to Conasauga Judicial Circuit District Attorney Benjamin Kenemer, Cruz-Duque entered his guilty plea in April 2025 and later testified against Guzman during his 2026 trial. Prosecutors had alleged that Guzman participated in the events surrounding the fatal encounter, but a jury found him not guilty on Sept. 11, 2026.
The case has drawn significant attention since the summer of 2024, when authorities discovered four victims dead following an exchange of gunfire at Pleasant Grove Park.
Investigators said several individuals from Rome traveled to Dalton to meet David Antonio “Ace” Delgadillo, 21, and Joshua Pedro Pelico-Pelico, 19. Those involved had arranged a meeting that authorities initially believed was connected to a drug transaction involving contraband.
According to court records, Cruz-Duque traveled to the park with his cousin, Daniel Segura-Cruz, and Robert “Alexis” Valencia. During the encounter, gunfire erupted, killing Segura-Cruz, Valencia, Delgadillo and Pelico-Pelico.
In the months following the shooting, law enforcement arrested Cruz-Duque and later expanded the investigation to include additional suspects. In February 2025, authorities arrested Guzman at his Rome home and charged him in connection with the killings. Prosecutors later argued that the meeting at the park was part of an attempted robbery disguised as a drug deal.
During Guzman’s trial, Cruz-Duque served as a key witness for the prosecution. However, Whitfield County District Attorney Kenemer acknowledged that the state’s case largely depended on whether jurors believed Cruz-Duque’s version of events. Jurors ultimately acquitted Guzman of all felony murder charges.
Despite that acquittal, Cruz-Duque still faced sentencing on his own guilty plea. Prosecutors said his felony murder convictions stemmed from an underlying felony involving the distribution and possession of marijuana vape products.
During Tuesday’s sentencing hearing, Judge Poston underscored the magnitude of the crime, noting that he was unaware of another incident in the area’s approximately 150-year history in which four people were killed during a single criminal event.
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A Rome 19 year-old teen, Andres Jared Guzman, has been acquitted in connection with a 2024 quadruple homicide in Dalton.
Guzman was found not guilty of felony murder by a Whitfield County jury following a trial before Judge Burt Poston.
Guzman had been accused in the Aug. 24, 2024, shooting at Pleasant Grove Park, where four people were found dead.
Prosecutors argued the incident stemmed from an attempted robbery that was arranged to look like a drug transaction. Investigators initially believed the shooting involved a drug deal that went wrong after narcotics were discovered at the scene.
According to prosecutors, four people from Rome — Daniel Segura Cruz, 17; Robert Valencia, 18; Guzman, 18; and Juan Diego Cruz-Duque, who was 16 at the time — traveled to Dalton to meet David Antonio “Ace” Delgadillo, 21, and Joshua Pedro Pelico-Pelico, 19.
Cruz-Duque previously pleaded guilty to four counts of felony murder and testified against Guzman during the trial.
Whitfield County District Attorney Dan Kenemer said the prosecution’s case largely depended on whether jurors believed Cruz-Duque’s testimony. The verdict indicates the jury did not find his account sufficient to convict Guzman.
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An 18 year-old Rome teen, Andres Jared Guzman was arrested at his home off Burnett Ferry Road Tuesday and charged with a murder that looks to have occurred in Whitefield County last summer.
Reports said that authorities went to Guzman’s Brookwood subdivision home around 7pm after being alerted of his whereabouts.
After being taken into custody he was taken to Whitfield County where he was booked into jail.
According to reports, in August of last year Daniel Segura Cruz, 17, and Robert Alexis Valencia, 18 ,both of Rome were killed alongside David Antonio Delgadillo, 21, and Joshua Pedro Pelico-Pelico, 19, both of Dalton.
Authorities arrested a 16 year-old Rome teen right after the killings and charged with him four counts of murder.
Authorities added that were seeking additional suspects.
Whitfield County investigators said that several people from Rome traveled to Dalton’s Pleasant Grove Park to meet with Delgadillo and Pelico “for the purpose of obtaining contraband”.
Then when the groups met up gunshots were exchanged.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation has been assisting with the case.
Anyone with any information regarding the incident can still call the Whitfield County Sheriff’s Office at 706-278-1233 or the GBI tip line at 800-597-8477.
