Developments in the Hector 'Macho' Camacho murder case
Five men have been charged with the murder of Hall of Fame boxer, Hector 'Macho' Camacho.
Back in November of 2012, Camacho was fatally wounded when he was shot while sitting in a car parked outside a bar with his friend, Adrián Mojica Moreno. Moreno died at the scene but Camacho held on for several days before finally being taken off life support on the 24th November. He was just 50 years old.
Up until now, the perpetrators have remained at large but five suspects have now been arrested and charged in connection with the murders. Four of the five suspects were already incarcerated for reasons not connected to Camacho's death and it is also reported that a further two suspects believed to be involved with the shootings have also been killed themselves.
Hopefully, after nearly 10 years has passed, Camacho's family will finally have justice.
On February 12, 2011, Camacho was attacked near the Luis Lloréns Torres housing project in San Juan. Camacho said he was taking a friend to a nearby bar when two men approached his vehicle (a 2005 BMW X5) and tried to carjack him. When he tried to drive away, they shot at him three times. He said that since "everybody loves me," he didn't think the men had realised who he was. He did not file a police report.
Less than two years later, on November 20, 2012, Camacho was shot once in the jaw while sitting in a car, on Puerto Rico Highway 167, in Bayamón. Camacho, 50, was seated in the passenger seat of a friend's Ford Mustang when he was shot by unknown individuals from a passing SUV. The driver of the car, Adrian Mojica Moreno, Camacho's childhood friend, was killed in the attack.
Camacho was taken to San Pablo Hospital in Bayamón, where he was reported to be in critical condition. Police said a chase took place and that the vehicle from which the shots were fired was found in the area of Jardines de Cataño. There were conflicting media reports, with an early claim that police arrested a suspect around two hours later. Police investigating the incident said they found nine bags of cocaine in the car.
The bullet pierced Camacho's left mandible and fractured his fifth and sixth cervical vertebrae, lodging in his right shoulder and forming a lesion on his carotid artery that restricted blood flow to his brain. At one point doctors announced Camacho was expected to survive but might be paralysed, but after he suffered a cardiac arrest during the night, doctors said they could find only minimal brain activity. The morning after the shooting, Rafael Rodríguez Mercado, director of the Medical Sciences Campus, reported that Camacho was brain stem dead. "His full recovery would be a miracle; medically there is nothing more that can be done," stated Rodríguez Mercado. This was confirmed the next morning by Ernesto Torres, director of the hospital.
Camacho's mother Maria Matias announced on November 23 plans to have her son taken off life support once his three remaining sons arrived in Puerto Rico to be with him. Héctor Camacho was officially declared dead after a heart attack the following day. It was not possible for any of his organs to be donated to recipients because of the time that had passed between him being found clinically brain dead and when his heart stopped.
He is survived by his parents, his sons, two grandsons, his brother Félix and his sisters Raquel, Estrella and Esperanza. His oldest son, Hector Camacho Jr., said violence had overtaken Puerto Rico. "Death, jail, drugs, killings," he said. "That's what the streets are now." Puerto Rico's former governor, Luis Fortuno, said "'Macho' will always be remembered for his spontaneity and charisma in and out of the ring."
Puerto Rican governor-elect, Alejandro Garcia Padilla, said Camacho had "united the country"; "We celebrated his triumphs in the streets and we applauded him with noble sportsmanship when he didn't prevail." Asked how he wished his son to be remembered, his father said for his clowning around and that he was a happy person, that he had revolutionized boxing by how he was dressed upon entering the ring.
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