In the early moments of a December morning, the festive atmosphere inside Los Chaparritos, a Latin restaurant in Edgewater, Maryland, was shattered by a single gunshot that would end a young man's life. Twenty-six-year-old Luis Angel Meza-Santiago was shot and killed on December 3, 2022, in an act of violence that was as swift as it was tragic. The man responsible for his death was not a stranger, but his own friend, 19-year-old Alexander Salinas of Annapolis.
Earlier in the evening,
Meza-Santiago and Salinas had arrived at the restaurant together and were near a large group at another table. At some point, the gathering moved outside. Surveillance footage from outside the establishment captured the moments that followed. Salinas is seen exiting the restaurant, pulling out a firearm, and firing a single shot toward the group of people. Meza-Santiago immediately fell to the ground, the unintended victim of his friend's reckless act.
In the chaotic aftermath, others at the scene tackled Salinas, and the handgun changed hands several times before ultimately disappearing; it was never recovered by law enforcement. Police, who had been called to the restaurant just after midnight, arrived to find a small group of people surrounding the lifeless body of Meza-Santiago in the parking lot. He was rushed to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead from what appeared to be a single gunshot wound.
During the initial investigation, witnesses identified a potential suspect they knew as 'Alex'. Salinas, who had returned to the scene and was being loud and disruptive, was identified by police. During questioning, he gave multiple conflicting stories but eventually admitted to shooting his friend, claiming it was unintentional. He was arrested at the scene and subsequently charged.
Alexander Salinas later pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and the use of a firearm in a crime of violence. The court sentenced him to 40 years in prison, with all but 15 years suspended. Upon his release, he will be placed on five years of supervised probation. The state's attorney noted that Salinas had fired into a group with the intent to kill or cause serious injury, and in doing so, had tragically taken the life of his friend.
