MERCEDES — A Mercedes man was arrested this past week for his role in a New Year’s Day family argument that turned fatal, police said.
Alfonso Flores Alejandro, 40, was formally charged with criminal negligent homicide, a state jail felony with a maximum sentence of two years if convicted.
His bond was set at $100,000.
Alejandro got in an argument with Jose Duran in the early morning hours, striking him in the face with his fist, resulting in Duran “falling to the ground, hitting his head on the roadway and dying,” according to an arrest warrant affidavit.
Mercedes police were dispatched to the scene at approximately 2 a.m.
Duran was married to Alejandro’s sister, and the affidavit states that Alejandro called her Jan. 3 “admitting to hitting Jose but did not mean to kill him.”
The affidavit says the fight arose after Alejandro’s girlfriend arrived at the siblings’ mother’s house to celebrate New Year’s Eve, and the family “refused to have her there and asked her to leave.”
Duran allegedly confronted Alejandro and his girlfriend as they were in their vehicle about to leave, at which point Alejandro “knocked out” his brother-in-law.
