Courtroom chaos after guilty verdict in dismemberment murder
In this Tuesday, June 5, 2018 photo, Daniel Moreno Lopez struggles with deputies moments after being convicted of murder at the Bexar County Justice Center in San Antonio, Texas.
William Luther/The San Antonio Express-News via AP
SAN ANTONIO — A Texas courtroom erupted in chaos after a jury returned a guilty verdict against a man accused of fatally beating and dismembering a 35-year-old man before burning his amputated and charred limbs on a barbecue grill. A jury took about three hours to find Daniel Moreno Lopez guilty of murder in the 2014 killing of Jose Luis Menchaca.
After the verdict was read Tuesday, Lopez began to flail and was forced from the courtroom by Bexar County sheriff deputies. Lopez’s mother collapsed sobbing to the floor of a hallway, according to MySanAntonio.com, repeatedly screaming, “No!”
According to testimony, Menchaca had stabbed Lopez in the back in a botched drug deal days before the killing. Witnesses testified Menchaca’s death had been in retaliation for the assault.
Lopez’s former girlfriend has pleaded guilty to murder and awaits sentencing. Jailed co-defendant Gabriel Moreno awaits trial on a murder charge.
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