A Suitland man pleaded guilty to shooting another patron at a D.C. restaurant without warning in 2011, the U.S. Attorney’s office announced.
Alexis Pineda, 26, and two friends went to El Sauce Restaurant, on the 2100 block of 11th Street NW, at about 2:30 a.m. on March 27, 2011, according to prosecutors. While in the restaurant, Pineda walked up to the victim, Jose Manuel Hernandez-Romero, and shot him once in the chest with a revolver without provocation.
Other patrons at the restaurant were able to tackle Pineda outside the restaurant and keep him pinned down until police arrived, according to authorities.
Pineda pleaded guilty to second-degree murder while armed.
One of his friends, 30-year-old Lanham resident Jaime Cruz, pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice on Oct. 4 to obstruction of justice. Authorities said Cruz tried to free Pineda and assaulted a patron helping to hold Pineda down.
Pineda is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 14. Cruz’s sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 19.
