Greenville County deputies make an arrest after a man's body was found beaten and burned

https://www.greenvilleonline.com/sto...g/75074700007/


Terry Benjamin II

Greenville News

Sept. 4, 2024, 4:16 p.m. ET
A Columbia man has been charged with murder in connection with a body found beaten and burned late Sunday night in Greenville.

Greenville County Sheriff's Office Lt. Ryan Flood said Wednesday that Juan Veneroso-Lopez, 38, was charged after GCSO investigators and Richland County Sheriff’s Office deputies arrested him Tuesday night at his home in Columbia. According to Flood, Veneroso-Lopez told investigators he beat 29-year-old Angel Lazaro-Castillo to death and set his body on fire.

On Sunday, Veneroso-Lopez traveled to Greenville to confront Lazaro-Castillo over a domestic dispute, Flood said. An arrest warrant detailed that during the confrontation, Veneroso-Lopez used an object and blunt force to beat Lazaro-Castillo to death. He then attempted to dispose of the body by pouring a flammable liquid and setting it on fire.

Lazaro-Castillo’s body was discovered at North 6th Street and Woodside Avenue after police received a call at about 11 p.m. reporting that a person was on fire.

Veneroso-Lopez was being held at the Greenville County Detention Center. A Greenville County judge denied him bond Wednesday morning.