Jury Picked in Bronx Case of Slain Boxer

By Jessica Jupiter & Chris Butera
A jury was empaneled Tuesday in the murder trial of a 36-year-old Bronx man accused of shooting a three-time Golden Gloves winner at a local bodega five years ago.

After being sworn in the jury was dismissed as the case was scheduled to start on October 16.

The charges grew out of an angry confrontation between the boxer, Ronney Vargas, 20, and Coimbre who reportedly disapproved of a romantic relationship between the victim and Coimbre’s neice.  After the encounter, Coimbre followed Vargas to a Bronx bodega where he pistol-whipped and then fatally shot him in the chest, authorities said.

At the time of his death Vargas  had just turned professional and compiled an 8-0 record. He won the Golden Gloves title in 2005, 2006, and 2007.

Since his death, local boxing events have been held in Ronney Vargas’s memory – including a recent card of bouts at the Willis Avenue Boxing Gym headlined by his brother Ronniel, who is also a boxer.

This May the corner of Wales Ave. and 152nd St. in the Bronx was renamed ‘Ronney Venezuela Vargas Place’ in honor of the slain boxer.