Hector ‘Macho’ Camacho murder case dismissed after star witness flees

A judge on Friday dismissed a case against five suspects charged in the 2012 killing of renowned Puerto Rican boxer Héctor “Macho” Camacho after authorities said the star witness fled the island.

Prosecutors requested a second opportunity to have their case heard, adding that they have contacted authorities in Florida for help since they believe the witness is now there.

On November 20, 2012, around 7 p.m. AST, 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,[19] 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.[20] 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 9 p.m. AST.[21][22] Police investigating the incident said they found nine bags of cocaine in the car.[19]

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.[23] At one point doctors announced Camacho was expected to survive but might be paralyzed,[24] but after he suffered a cardiac arrest during the night, doctors said they could find only minimal brain activity.[25] The morning after the shooting, Rafael Rodríguez Mercado, director of the Medical Sciences Campus, reported to El Nuevo Día 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.[26] This was confirmed the next morning by Ernesto Torres, director of the hospital.[27]

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.[28] Héctor Camacho was officially declared dead after a heart attack the following day.[3][4] 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.[23]

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