Arrest made in Columbia after an SC man was beaten to death and set on fire, cops say
A Columbia man was charged with murder after a man in another part of South Carolina was beaten to death and his body was set on fire, according to the Greenville County Sheriff’s Office.
Angel Lazaro-Castillo was the victim, the sheriff’s office said Wednesday in a news release.
Members of both the Greenville County Sheriff’s Office and the Richland County Sheriff’s Department arrested 38-year-old Juan Veneroso-Lopez Tuesday night, according to a news release.
Veneroso-Lopez was taken into custody during the joint agency search of a home in the 500 block of Fore Avenue, the Greenville County Sheriff’s Office said. That’s in northeast Columbia, between Two Notch Road and Interstate 20.
Deputies said Veneroso-Lopez had gone to Greenville on Sunday, where he confronted Lazaro-Castillo over a domestic-related dispute, according to the release. Further information about the domestic dispute was not available.
Veneroso-Lopez killed Lazaro-Castillo during an assault where he caused blunt force trauma to the victim’s head, according to an arrest warrant. Then Veneroso-Lopez poured a flammable liquid on the victim’s body and set him on fire, the Greenville County Sheriff’s Office said.
No other injuries were reported.
Lazaro-Castillo’s burning body was found “outside, next to the road,” the sheriff’s office said. It was discovered near the intersection of N. 6th Street and Woodside Avenue, which is a largely residential area about 1.5 miles from Lazaro-Castillo’s residence, officials say.
Veneroso-Lopez confessed to the deadly attack, according to the arrest warrant.
He was taken to the Upstate region and booked into the Greenville County Detention Center, according to the release. No bond has been set and Veneroso-Lopez remains behind bars, jail records show.
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