Kriti Mehrotra
Showtime’s ‘Macho: The Hector Camacho Story’ is a documentary that portraits the rise, fall, and mysterious death of Hector “Macho” Camacho, one of boxing’s most picturesque champions. The Puerto Rican entertainer was known for his extraordinary speed, footwork, and skills inside the ring and his flamboyant style outside. Plus, the one thing that no one could ever deny was his showmanship. Hector Camacho competed professionally in the sport for three decades, becoming a world champion in three different weight classes, before a double homicide ultimately claimed his life. So, if you’re here curious to know all the details of his case, you’ve come to the right place.
How Did Hector “Macho” Camacho Die?
Hector Camacho was born in Bayamón, Puerto Rico, on May 24, 1962. But when he was 3-years-old, his parents separated, and he subsequently moved to New York with his mother, residing in the James Weldon Johnson housing project in Spanish Harlem. Hector attended the local area schools but was always quite aggressive, which landed him in jail at the age of just 15 for a street fight. Thankfully, though, soon after, he learned to manage his aggression by taking up extracurriculars like boxing and karate, eventually deciding to pursue the former as a profession. Hector’s career graph, which includes 88 fights with 79 wins, 6 losses, and 3 draws, remains unmatched to this day.
But unfortunately, everything changed on November 20, 2012. Hector, 50, was sitting in the passenger seat of his childhood friend’s, Adrian Mojica Moreno’s, black Ford Mustang outside a bar in his native Bayamón when an SUV drove by and opened fire on them. Adrian was shot twice and died at the scene, whereas Hector, left breathing, was immediately taken to the hospital. He was shot on his upper left side, and the bullet had lodged itself in his body, restricting blood flow to his brain. That night, Hector suffered a heart attack. And four days later, after he endured another cardiac arrest and was declared brain dead, his mother requested that he be removed from life support.
Who Killed Hector “Macho” Camacho?
From reports, it is clear that there were two men inside the SUV who were responsible for the drive-by attack on Hector Camacho and his friend Adrian Mojica Moreno. Initial investigations did lead the police to the car from which the shots were fired, found in the Jardines de Cataño area. But there have been conflicting statements about the evidence discovered from inside the vehicle since. There was an early claim that a suspect was arrested at around 9 p.m. that day itself, yet nothing transpired from it. The only thing that is known for sure is that the investigators found at least nine bags of cocaine in the victim’s car.
And it turned out that Hector “Macho” Camacho, the beloved sports figure and pride of Puerto Rico, was not even the target of the fatal shooting – Adrian was. Apparently, the childhood friend of the legendary athlete and the two shooters had some bad blood between them, and the firing was meant to eliminate Adrian. Hector was just at the wrong place at the wrong time. Furthermore, in 2013, it was revealed that the two other suspects the investigators were looking into for the double homicide were cleared by forensic evidence. And to make things worse, the analysis presented no leads for any other possible suspects.
Therefore, the two shooters who fled the scene after opening fire on Adrian and Hector on November 20, 2012, have not been caught by the Puerto Rican law enforcement until now.
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