Officials identify man fatally shot over whether he could park in vacant Parkland lot
Officials have identified a man shot to death during a confrontation over whether he could park in a vacant lot in Parkland.
Eleuterio Castellan Salinas, 30, died Sunday of a gunshot wound to the head, according to the Pierce County Medical Examiner’s Office.
He and his girlfriend parked their van in a lot in the 13400 block of C Street South, and Kenneth Salazar, a 45-year-old man who lived in a nearby rented home, came out to tell him he had to leave.
Salazar’s brother filmed the encounter on his cell phone.
In the footage, the brothers can be heard telling Salinas he is trespassing, and Salinas said he wasn’t doing anything wrong.
Salinas then threw a cup of liquid at the brothers, and almost immediately, a shot rang out, according to charging papers.
Salinas was pronounced dead at the scene.
The Salazar brothers said the liquid was urine, but forensic investigators were unable to determine what was in the cup. Salinas’ girlfriend said he was carrying a soda.
Salazar said he shot the victim because he thought the cup was a gun, records say.
Salinas was not armed.
On Tuesday, Salazar pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder and is being held on $750,000 bail.
Investigators believe Salazar’s brother deleted about four hours of footage from their home security cameras after a deputy mistakenly allowed him into the home when he asked to use the bathroom. The footage does not resume until after the shooting occurred and 911 was called.
Defense attorney Erin White argued at the arraignment that the allegation about the surveillance footage being deleted doesn’t make sense, because Salazar’s brother was also filming on his phone.
This story was originally published March 5, 2021 at 10:25 AM.
