42-year-old Domingo Venencio-Tapia was murdered at Restaurante Lempira, in Charlotte, NC after refusing to buy beer for Juan Deras Escalante, 23, and another man. On February 7, 2024 Juan was sentenced to life in prison for murdering Domingo. Charlotte Alerts is on Instagram now.
Domingo refused their request. So Juan and Gerardo fired several shots into the restaurant hitting Domingo.
Domingo died on the scene. The suspects fled.
Gerardo was arrested a day later and charged with murder. He later pled guilty in connection with the crimes.
But Juan was not going down without a fight. On April 30, 2019 officers and the Secret Service went to a residence near Coulee Place to serve warrants on Juan related to the homicide of Domingo.
Juan engaged in a eight hour standoff with the SWAT Team and negotiators. Juan refused to cooperate, but after those long eight hours Juan eventually succumbed to his arrest and surrendered. See here how Juan’s previous murder charge was thrown out.
At his 2024 court trial, Juan was found guilty of first degree murder. A judge sentenced Juan to life without the possibility of parole for the murder charge and 100-168 months for firing a gun into an occupied dealing.
Domingo was the father of a new born baby girl. He also had a wife. His wife has since re-married.
