Darwin Espin, 43, was killed outside his apartment at the Waterside Apartments near River West Festival Park in Tulsa on the night of December 17, 2018. Neighbors reported first responders arriving and medics transported him to a local hospital, where he died shortly after arrival.

Tulsa detectives quickly investigated the scene and identified a 36-year-old man, Epifanio Soto (also reported as Epifanio Soto Jr.), as a person of interest. He was arrested the next day and booked on a complaint of first-degree murder; reporting tied the attack to a dispute over a love interest rather than a random robbery. Prosecutors later amended charges and Soto pleaded guilty in District Court to first-degree manslaughter and using a firearm in the commission of a violent crime; the judge accepted the plea and imposed consecutive prison terms totaling 35 years, followed by one year of post-imprisonment supervision.

Espin is remembered online as a devoted family man. Was anyone in the neighborhood that night aware of tensions between Espin and the person arrested?