Phoenix man charged with second-degree murder after deadly traffic altercation
Jun 29, 2014, 6:00 PM | Updated: 6:00 pm
PHOENIX — An altercation outside a Phoenix party left one man dead and another behind bars early Sunday morning.
Nineteen-year-old Antonio Torres-Pena and his friend were leaving a party located near 3330 N. 76th Ave. at about 1:30 a.m. when they realized the stopped car in front of them was blocking the street.
After noticing that vehicles were beginning to back up behind him, Torres-Pena honked his horn.
A 24-year-old man, later identified at Luis Gaona, exited the passenger side of the vehicle and made his way toward Torres-Pena.
The two began to fight in the road, and according to Tommy Thompson of the Phoenix Police Department, at some point during the altercation Torres-Pena shot Gaona before fleeing the scene with his friend.
Gaona was transported to a nearby hospital with life-threatening injuries — ones he would later succumb to.
Meanwhile, officers quickly located Torres-Pena after his vehicle broke down near the scene, and he was taken into custody and charged with second-degree murder.