Man admits to 2020 slaying at Holland Township mobile home park

GRAND HAVEN — A week before his jury trial was scheduled to begin, a Holland man pleaded guilty to shooting and killing another man in a mobile home park in August 2020.

Jose Eduardo “Eddy” Perez-Jaquez, 21, will be sentenced next month for the murder of Victor Gil-Bravo.

He pleaded guilty to second-degree murder during a Tuesday hearing and faces a sentence of up to life in prison for the crime when he returns to 20th Circuit Court Judge Karen Miedema’s courtroom.

The shooting took place Aug. 30, 2020, in the Leisure Estates Mobile Home Park, 523 Butternut Drive, Holland, behind a home where 20-year-old Gil-Bravo lived with his family.

Establishing the facts underlying his guilty plea, Perez-Jaquez told the judge simply: “I committed the murder.”

In response to questions from his lawyer, Horia Neagos, Perez-Jaquez confirmed that he drove to the Leisure Estates address on the day of the murder to meet Gil-Bravo and that he brought his 9 millimeter handgun to the meeting. While Gil-Bravo had his back turned, Perez-Jaquez shot him multiple times in the torso with the handgun. 

Perez-Jaquez was quickly identified as the culprit by eyewitnesses and photographic evidence and police arrested him shortly after the shooting. The gun used in the shooting was recovered at his home.

While awaiting trial, Perez-Jaquez underwent psychological evaluation to determine if he was legally insane at the time of the murder and therefore not criminally responsible. The judge reviewed the sealed report and found no basis for a finding of legal insanity in a ruling earlier this year.

As part of Perez-Jaquez’s plea deal, attorneys agreed Perez-Jaquez would receive a minimum sentence of 23 years in the Michigan Department of Corrections on the two charges of second-degree murder and a felony weapons charge. The maximum penalty will be left to the judge to determine.

Second-degree murder is punishable by life in prison or any other term of years.

The original charge against Perez-Jaquez, open murder, was dismissed as part of the agreement.

Perez-Jaquez will remain in the Ottawa County Jail while he awaits his sentencing hearing, set for 2:30 p.m. July 18.