A bouncer at a St. Paul bar delivered a fatal knockout punch to a patron who moments earlier was arguing with a woman on their first date, according to an updated criminal complaint filed Tuesday.
Jose Eucario Conejo Marquez, 28, was charged in Ramsey County District Court with first-degree manslaughter in connection with the attack about 2:20 a.m. Sunday outside Blues Saloon in the 1600 block of Rice Street that killed 33-year-old Melvin Alexander Martinez Altamirano.
Conejo Marquez, of North St. Paul, was arrested soon afterward and remains jailed in lieu of $100,000 bail ahead of a court appearance Wednesday. Court records do not list an attorney for him.
Martinez Altamirano, of St. Paul, was taken from the scene by emergency responders to Regions Hospital, with a “devastating brain bleed,” read the charging document. He died Monday night, the amended complaint disclosed.
According to the complaint:
A woman flagged down police outside the bar and directed them to Martinez Altamirano, who was slumped over inside a pickup truck. She said he had been unconscious for about 10 minutes after a bouncer punched him.
An officer removed Martinez Altamirano from the pickup and began CPR, which restored his breathing and a pulse before medics took him to Regions.
The woman said she and Martinez Altamirano were on their first date, and he became jealous because “multiple men hit on” her, the complaint noted. They began arguing and soon were kicked out of the bar.
