A morning of family drinking turned deadly yesterday when police say a Phoenix man got hammered, punched a woman in the face, and then fatally shot his own nephew.
According to court documents obtained by New Times, Antonio Lawrence Bracamonte II, 26, was arrested early yesterday morning after police found his nephew fatally shot in front of Bracamonte's mother's home at 1909 South 83rd Drive in Phoenix, where the two had been drinking with friends and other family members.
A semi-automatic handgun was found on the victim, his left hand on the gun.
Police located Bracamonte, who told them that he and his cousin had gotten into a fight and the gun accidentally went off.
Not quite.
Police located witnesses, including Bracamonte's two cousins and brother, who said things went down a little differently.
Bracamonte's cousin, Desiree Amorosa, told police that the group was drinking in front of the house when she said something to the victim, Joe Ollarsaba, that offended Bracamonte. So he punched her in the face.
Ollarsaba, defending Amorosa, got into a physical altercation with Bracamonte that eventually ended up with the two men wrestling on the ground.
Amorosa told police that the fight came to an end, and the two men got up. Bracamonte, Amorosa says, then asked her for the pistol he'd given her to hold earlier in the night. Gun in hand, he walked up to Ollarsaba and shot him once in the head.
Other witnesses related to Bracamonte confirmed Amorosa's story to police, and also said they watched as he put the gun on the victim's chest as they ran for safety.
Ollarsaba was pronounced dead at the scene.
An alcoholic with a history of violence, Bracamonte was booked on one count of second-degree murder.
