OBSERVER Photo by Damian Sebouhian Chautauqua County District Attorney Patrick Swanson questions a witness during the felony hearing for Rebecca Ruiz. Ruiz will be facing a grand jury trial in the shooting death of her boyfriend Julian Duman, who she may have accidentally killed in a case of mistaken identity.

Rebecca Ruiz will be facing a grand jury trial in Mayville as Judge Walter F. Drag ruled during Tuesday’s felony hearing that there was sufficient evidence presented against Ruiz, charged with second degree murder for the July 6 shooting death of 21-year old Julian Duman.

New evidence came to light during the hearing as Chautauqua County District Attorney Patrick Swanson called two witnesses who elaborated on their findings in the case.

Dunkirk police officer Brian Dietzen testified that he was the first on the scene, having been less than a minute away from the location when he received the 9-1-1 call that Thursday evening around 10 p.m.

“When I arrived on scene, I could hear a female screaming,” Dietzen told the court. “As I pulled up, I exited my patrol vehicle and I walked up to the female that was yelling for help. She was holding an individual that appeared to be shot. The female was Rebecca Ruiz.”

Dietzen testified that he recognized both Ruiz and the bleeding man she was holding, Julian Duman.

“(Duman) was bleeding profusely from his mouth as Ms. Ruiz had put him on his side,” Dietzen said. “I was gloving up to aid in assisting the victim and then I asked Ms. Ruiz who shot Mr. Duman. She responded ‘I shot him. Oh my god is he dead. I didn’t know it was Julian. I thought it was Waldo. I heard somebody jiggle the door, so I shot through the door. I think It’s a .22. I threw it over there.'”Swanson asked Dietzen if he was able to locate the gun, to which the officer responded, “No.”

It’s not clear at this time if the gun was found by any other officer, but later testimony by Lt. Mark Polowy suggests an inconsistency in the description of the gun Ruiz allegedly used and the slug that was found during Duman’s autopsy.

“The slug was a .25 caliber,” Polowy said after testifying that he had attended the entire autopsy for Duman at ECMC in Buffalo the same night of the shooting.

According to Polowy, Duman was shot by a single bullet to the left upper chest.

“It entered in a downward angle from the point of entry across the chest,” said Polowy.

Upon cross examination by the defense team, led by Anthony L. Pendergrass, Polowy testified that there were no defensive wounds on Duman’s body or any other signs of struggle, nor were there any signs of trauma to Duman’s head.

Ruiz will be remanded in the Chautauqua County Jail as she awaits the results of a bail request made by Pendergrass. The date for the jury trial in Mayville has yet to be determined.