In the summer of 2017, a domestic argument shattered the quiet of a Taylors, South Carolina home, leaving one man dead and his son facing a murder charge. Richard Mendez, a 51-year-old male, was fatally shot in his Bay Point Way residence on the evening of Friday, July 7, 2017. The tragic event stemmed from a heated dispute with his son, Austin Cole Mendez.
Greenville County Sheriff's deputies were dispatched to the home following a 911 call reporting the shooting.
Upon their arrival, they discovered Richard Mendez with a gunshot wound to his head. The Greenville County Coroner's Office later confirmed that this was the cause of his death at the scene.
Investigators from the Sheriff's Office quickly identified Austin Cole Mendez as the suspect in his father's death. He was taken into custody at the residence without incident. Following an investigation into the circumstances of the shooting, Austin Mendez was formally charged with murder and possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime. He was subsequently booked into the Greenville County Detention Center.
