A pack of American Spirits, a gun, a takeout order, but no beer. This was the basis of the story that led to Juan Deras Escalante’s conviction on first-degree murder, dating back to five years ago. The witnesses give account that the incident occurred when a fresh dad refused to get a drink for the then 19 year old outside a Mexican eatery in Charlotte.

On the 29th day of April, 2019, Domingo Venencio-Tapia – aged 41 – fell victim to the shootout attack, with a bullet to his face and four other bullets fired into the wall behind him. His recently married wife, who had given birth just 16 days before this event, was noticeably absent at the scene. Conversely, another man Venencio-Tapia had only just met that night at the Lempira Restaurant on South Boulevard – held the unfortunate victim helplessly as he bled out with his final breath.

The Wednesday following an eight-day trial saw a jury find Escalante – now aged 23 – guilty as charged for the crimes of first-degree murder as well as four counts of discharging a firearm into preoccupied property.

“It started over something silly and escalated,” Escalante’s attorney, William Heroy, stated to the jury during his concluding arguments.

However, he contended, the adolescent had no intention of shooting Venencio-Tapia.

Upon Venencio-Tapia’s refusal to purchase them a beverage, Escalante departed the eating establishment in a buddy’s vehicle, based on eyewitness accounts. He dangled from the passenger side window and discharged a total of five rounds.

According to Heroy’s argument, those projectiles were intended to be fired skyward.

As Venencio-Tapia and a few other men shuffled back into the restaurant, the car jolted or hit a curb, and Escalante’s arm fell — firing the bullets lower than intended, Heroy said.

The friend driving, Gerardo Lagunes, previously pleaded guilty in connection with the crimes, according to a news release from Mecklenburg County’s District Attorney’s Office.

State prosecutors squelched the defense through witness statements and recorded jail calls.

“This is my neighborhood,” Escalante said as he readied to pull the trigger, witnesses recalled. He told Venencio-Tapia and two other men he’d shot and killed a man before.

Then the bullets came, none of which soared into the sky.

On the contrary, they all battered the building and one of them hit its intended target – Venencio-Tapia, as argued by state attorneys William Bunting and Austin Butler.

The very act of Escalante discharging shots into an occupied property where he knew people were dining, justifies the four counts of firing a weapon into an occupied property. Furthermore, these shots – including the one that killed Venencio-Tapia – demonstrate intent, a crucial element in justifying a charge of first-degree murder, as Bunting asserted.

Escalante and Lagunes made their escape down South Boulevard. When the police arrived, Venencio-Tapia was already dead.

People who testified in court including Darcy Luna and Junior Lopez remember the visible image of Escalante with his curly hair, white shirt, and shiny gold chain. According to them, he was seen hanging outside the window.

A surveillance video that was viewed indicated Escalante, along with two of his friends inside Lempira just some moments before the occurrence of the shooting. The three of them picked an order to-go and Escalante was spotted talking with the bartender.

After that, he proceeded towards Venencio-Tapia and the brother of Lopez. A notable scene was when all of them were patting their pockets, which seemed like they were in search of a lighter, suggested by Bunting. At some point, they all stepped out of the restaurant.

A couple of minutes later, the footage showed people in a rush either getting out or moving towards the till in an attempt to check out and leave the restaurant. The reason behind this sudden rush was because the restaurant had become a crime scene.

Outside, Venencio-Tapia lay in Lopez’s arms. A full, untouched pack of American Spirit cigarettes had fallen next to them.

Police didn’t discover Escalante until May 2019, following an intense eight-hour standoff with Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department’s SWAT team, which eventually coerced him out of his home. According to police records, he had taken Xanax and was drinking alcohol.

In police reports, detectives made reference to a confidential source that guided officers to Escalante. Investigators revealed in court on January 29, that this source was a cell tower simulator provided by the Secret Service.

This technology impersonates a cell tower and identifies persons of interest by connecting to a phone through the walls of a building, as reported by The Charlotte Observer.

In court on Wednesday, Bunting — who is the Homicide Unit Chief at the DA’s Office — showcased Snapchat “memories” during his closing argument. The police had received a video that Escalante had saved, captured a day before the fatal shooting at Lempira. The video depicted him with a Glock, which was a match for the suspected murder weapon.

During the trial, six of Escalante’s family members were present in court and were seated right behind him throughout the trial. Each one of them was visibly tense, shaking their legs as the lawyers put forth their closing arguments and as the jury was in deliberation. All members chose not to comment on the trial.

Separated from them was Madeline Tapia-Jones, the wife of the victim, sitting along with two members of her family. They comforted her intermittently by placing a hand on her shoulder. She chose not to give any comments during the trial, and she remained unreachable after the jury announced its final verdict.

In reference to the accused, she stated during her WBTV interview in 2019: “This boy, he made a choice. He quite clearly shot my husband, and because of that, he was only able to spend two weeks with our daughter.”

Remarried and again pregnant, the widow traveled from Indiana to testify and witness the trial.

Mecklenburg County Judge Justin Davis sentenced Escalante to life without the possibility of parole for the murder charge and an additional 100-168 months for shooting into an occupied building. As of Thursday afternoon, he was still being held at the Mecklenburg County Detention Center.