No charges in fatal Stevinson bar fight

No criminal charges will be filed in connection with a bar fight in October that claimed the life of a 22-year-old Marine Corps veteran from Newman, the Merced County District Attorney’s Office confirmed Tuesday.

Miguel De La Cruz died Oct. 5, 2014, after suffering fatal injuries during a large brawl at the Stevinson Bar & Grill, the Merced County District Attorney’s Office said.

Harold Nutt, chief deputy district attorney, described the death as a “terrible accident,” saying De La Cruz was punched in the face “inadvertently” during the scuffle by another 22-year-old Newman man, whom prosecutors described as De La Cruz’s “best friend.”

“He wasn’t trying to strike his friend; there was really no intent at all,” Nutt told the Merced Sun-Star.

Prosecutors formally declined to file any criminal charges in connection with the death on Dec. 15, 2014. Nutt confirmed the decision Tuesday in an interview with the Sun-Star.

Detectives said the alcohol-fueled violence broke out inside the bar, apparently during some type of argument over a woman and spilled into the parking lot. Who started the fight remains unclear.

“It escalated once it got outside, apparently as they (De La Cruz and his friends) were in the process of leaving,” Detective Sgt. Chuck Hale said.

De La Cruz was punched in the face during the melee. His friends took him to a Turlock hospital and he was later transferred to a hospital in Modesto, deputies said.

According to sheriff’s detectives, De La Cruz served a tour of duty in Afghanistan and returned home in late 2013.

Deputies said the Sheriff’s Department has been called to the bar numerous times to settle violent disputes and other issues.

Merced authorities have said the incident was particularly tragic because De La Cruz served a tour of duty in a war zone only to be fatally injured in his own community.

Hale confirmed the investigation is officially considered closed.

This story was originally published January 13, 2015 at 2:50 PM with the headline "No charges in fatal Stevinson bar fight."