Murder victim's loved ones upset about charges suspect is facing

PHOENIX (KSAZ) - A man suspected of shooting and killing a Valley cab driver is no longer facing murder charges. Now, the cab driver's loved ones are very upset by this change in the case, feeling that justice is not being served.

"It's so surreal," said Jayla Jackson. "It doesn't feel real. It feels like I'm gonna wake up any moment"

Jackson has to slap herself sometimes. She misses everything about her late fiancee, 31-year-old Ryan Moss.

"His presence, his voice, hearing him," said Jackson.

Moss, a taxi cab driver and the love of Jackson's life, was killed in early April while sitting in his car at a CVS parking lot.

"He was a family man," said Jackson. "He showed me things I probably won't see again."

The man behind the shooting, according to Phoenix Police, is Nathaniel J.Garcia, a convicted felon, someone Jackson says Moss tried to stay away from. The two used to be neighbors in an apartment complex. Jackson says Moss moved out of last year, partly because issues with Garcia.

"He's a big bully," said Jackson.

Investigators laid out, in their report, what appeared to be an ambush on Moss. On April 12, just after 7:00 p.m., Moss was sitting in the driver seat of his cab. Witnesses reported seeing a red Lincoln car pull up. A passenger gets out, and starts shooting into Moss' car.

Investigators say Moss was able to shoot back before running across the street and into a gas station. He begged for help, crouching over the counter, stating he was shot. Moss later died at the hospital, and police identified the suspect as Garcia.

"Ryan deserves justice," said Jackson. She thought they were moving towards that when detectives had Garcia booked for 2nd degree murder charges. However, the case, now in the hands of the County Attorney's Office, has changed.

No murder charges, and for Moss' family, it also means no justice.

"He took my life," said Jackson. "He took a father, a role model to my son. He took a lot."

Officials with the County Attorney's Office say they have only charged Garcia with misconduct involving a weapon, as that is the charge they felt met their standards of reasonable likeihood for conviction. They were unable to say more.

"To me, it's not okay that he gets a slap on the wrist, and Ryan is in the ground," said Jackson.

Jackson thinks back to that evening, the moment she found out she has lost Moss.

"I wish I woulda told him -- I tell his mom, I tell his sister, I wish I woulda told him 'let's not go nowhere. Let's stay home all day.'" said Jackson.

Then perhaps, Jackson says, Moss would still be alive.

"To just not have justice with it, it's hard," said Jackson. "You don't think the system is this way, but it is."