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The man was found lying on the ground unconscious in Orange County on Tuesday, July 26, when City of Middletown police officers responded to the BP gas station, located at 139 Wickham Ave., for a report of a person bleeding in the parking lot.
Daniel Mesa-Rios, age 31, was taken off life support and pronounced dead at Garnet Health Medical Center on Saturday, July 30, said Lt. Jeffrey Thoelen, of the Middletown Police.
A witness approached the officers and told them the Mesa-Rios had been assaulted by another man, who had since left the gas station in a motor vehicle, police said.
While officers were tending to the victim and investigating the incident, a male subject identified as Jose Vazquez-Rivera, pulled into the parking lot of the gas station. Vazquez-Rivera spoke with officers and was identified as the subject who had engaged in a physical altercation with the victim, Thoelen said.
Rivera-Vazquez, a Middletown resident, was then placed under arrest and charged with assault. He was arraigned in Middletown City Court and released after posting bail, he added.
Mesa-Rios was transported by Mobile Life Support Services to Garnet Health Medical Center, where he was placed on life support, police said.
As a result of Mesa-Rios's death, Vazquez-Rivera was placed under arrest on a new charge of manslaughter and remanded to Orange County Jail, Thoelen said.
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