Discussions continue in case of man who tried to drive off Suicide cliff

The parties in the case of a man who tried to drive off Suicide Cliff after beating his girlfriend are set to meet for a status conference to discuss what route they intend to take to resolve the case.

Chief Prosecutor Chester Hinds of the Office of the Attorney General said the defense and prosecution in the case of Tristin Lance V. Muña, 25, will meet on Nov. 19, for a status conference before Superior Court Associate Judge Joseph N. Camacho to discuss how to proceed.

Hinds said the parties will discuss at the status conference what direction the case will go, with either a change of plea or a trial but if no resolution can be reached at the status conference, the judge will proceed with a trial.

According to court documents, Muña’s girlfriend reported the beating incident to police on July 15 after receiving a voice message from Muña via WhatsApp that he was going to end his life.

This prompted the Department of Public Safety to notify all units that Muña was suicidal. He was later found at Suicide Cliff, where he tried to drive his vehicle off of the barricaded cliff. He failed to run off the cliff as the place had been barricaded after such a suicide incident several months earlier.

The victim said that, following an argument with Muna that night when she said she wanted to end their relationship, she went to take a shower and could hear Muña pacing inside the bedroom. When she came out, she saw Muña holding a bloody hand over a trash can. The victim said she was about to call their neighbor for help but when she tried to reach for her phone, Muña allegedly threw the phone across the room.

When the victim said she tried to push him away from her to call for help, but Muna allegedly started punching her until she was on the floor with Muña standing over her. Muña allegedly only slowed down the punches when the victim said she wasn’t going to leave him.

When Muña stopped hitting her, the victim told him that she needed medical attention and to allow their neighbor, one of the victim’s friends, to take her to the hospital. That was when Muña grabbed a few of his belongings and left their home.

Later, at around 10:45pm, the victim said she received a voice message from Muña saying that he “deserved to die” and “goodbye.” This prompted the victim to report the incident to police because she was afraid he would kill himself.

At around 11:48pm, police officers found Muña accelerating through the Suicide Cliff barricade. The vehicle did not go all the way through but police reported that the front tires of the vehicle were already off the cliff and they had to place rocks behind the two back tires to keep the vehicle from completely falling off the cliff.