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The Republic
A man is in custody after police found a body with gunshot wounds near a canal in east Phoenix.
On Sept. 22, police officers found a body in the beginning stages of decomposition near 36th and Portland streets. The man was identified as Efrin Victor Evangelista, 48.
Officers found shell casings around the body and also in the canal, according to police documents.
Investigators had responded to a call for someone “acting erratically” and mumbling about shooting someone, according to police.
The caller said he heard five to 10 gunshots fired south of where he was located. He then saw a man jump the fence near the canal. The caller then went into an alleyway, where he told the man who had jumped the fence that it was a dead end.
According to the caller’s witness statement, the man then said that he did not care and that he could do what he wanted, before saying, “I just killed a Black guy,” according to court documents.
The caller saw the man enter a liquor store. Police submitted a facial recognition request, which led to the identification of Bryan Flores Barrientos, 23.
A domestic violence call had been made to Flores Barrientos’ residence on the same day. Body camera footage showed that he was wearing the same clothes as the person seen in the liquor store, according to court documents.
The caller also picked out Flores Barrientos from a photographic lineup, police said.
According to police, Flores Barrientos admitted to shooting Victor Evangelista while he was sleeping. Flores Barrientos had been in the area to practice target shooting and had been drinking. He was also dealing with “family issues” at the time, according to court documents.
After police got a search warrant for Flores Barrientos’ apartment, they found a gun and the clothing he was seen wearing on the day. He was booked into jail by the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office on one count of second-degree murder, according to court documents.
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