A joyous bachelor party turned into a mournful event when 45-year old Louie Campos was killed in an altercation outside a Las Vegas nightclub. Louie, a father of five was attending the bachelor party of his own brother Adam when he was punched by ex-felon James Michael Beach, also known as James Michael Garcia, and died a few days later. The incident occurred at Vanguard Lounge located on the 500 block of Fremont Street. The CCTV footage gathered as evidence showed that the attack was unprovoked.
What happened?
According to the family's GoFundMe page, Luis was in the nightclub line along with three of his brothers to celebrate his brother's bachelor party.
Two men appeared at the scene and asked Campos what he was looking for. Without waiting for an answer, they “sucker punched” him. Campos’ brother Drake who was with him during the incident stated that Louie did not even get the chance to defend himself.
After he was punched into unconsciousness, he was pronounced dead at the Las Vegas hospital on May 4. The police later stated that Beach, along with the other man who was present with him during the incident, ran east and then turned north on Sixth Street after Campos had fallen unconscious.
James Michael Beach: a serial offender?
Andrew Walsh a captain from the Metropolitan Police Department termed the death “senseless.” Walsh who oversees the downtown Las Vegas patrol area, stated that the other than Beach, the accompanying person was also Hispanic.
However, Beach’s attorney Gregory Knapp stated to the court that his client did not hit Campos with the intention to kill and will not be pleading guilty to murder.
Currently, Beach has been locked up in the Clark County Detention Center without bail and it is not his first brush murder. Prior to this incident he served a four-year jail term for an attempted murder case in a November 2008 shooting incident.
Knapp said that Beach was engaged in construction work after his release from jail and was engaged to be married.
In the aftermath of the horrific incident, the wedding has been called off for now. According to FOX News, Campos is survived by his second wife Julie Campos and five children, three of whom are teenagers and two below the age of three. He was eldest of the four brothers and the sole bread earner of the family.
