Security guard at a bar in New Jersey is to be held responsible for the beating death of a man

◼ New Jersey man suffers fatal head injury in bar

◼ Patient died almost a year later

◼ Security guard now faces death sentence

ELIZABETH – A security guard is accused of causing a man’s fatal head injury at a local bar and lounge last summer, Union County District Attorney William Daniel announced.

Regis Pelegrino Motas, a resident of Elizabeth, was charged with first-degree manslaughter in connection with the death of Jose Lopez, several months after the incident at El Monsignor Lounge.

Elizabeth Police were called to the building at 654 Elizabeth Avenue on July 9, 2023.

Officers found Lopez with a head injury. He was taken to University Hospital and later transferred to a rehabilitation facility.

Lopez died of his injuries on March 25. Police later determined that he had been attacked by 26-year-old Motas, a security guard at the bar.

Motas, who is a Cuban citizen according to prison records, was arrested on July 12.

He was being held in the Essex County Jail awaiting a detention hearing on Wednesday.

Anyone with potentially relevant information about the case is asked to contact Homicide Detective Kevin Stanicki with the Union County Prosecutor’s Office at 908-527-4695 or Elizabeth Police Sergeant David Haverty at 908-335-6378.

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