Tampa man found guilty of manslaughter in stepfather's death over alleged affair
TAMPA, Fla. - The Tampa man accused of stabbing his stepfather to death three years ago over an affair has been found guilty of manslaughter after six hours of jury deliberation on Thursday.
Andy Flores-Tello, 23, was charged with first-degree murder in the stabbing death of Carlos Alfredo Sub-Choc back in October 2020. He took the stand Thursday and told the Tampa jury that he had nothing to do with the murder of his stepfather.
Pictured: Carlos Alfredo Sub-Choc
During Flores-Tello's testimony, the defendant said he found out that Alfredo Sub-Choc was dead after police interviewed him, and he broke down when he heard the news.
"I was apologizing to them, because I was expressing my feelings. I was sad that Carlos [Alfredo Sub-Choc] was dead," explained Flores-Tello.
Flores-Tello was living at a Tampa boarding house on West St. John Street back when the murder happened on October 3, 2020. Prosecutors said the defendant got into a heated argument with his stepfather.
The two had been drinking, and Flores-Tello accused him of being unfaithful to his mother, Alfredo Sub-Choc's wife. The fight turned physical, and that’s when they said Flores-Tello grabbed a knife from the kitchen and stabbed his stepfather to death.
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But, Flores-Tello said that’s not true during his testimony on Thursday.
He said during the fight, his stepfather was on top of him, hitting him repeatedly in the head with his knee. He then blacked out and when he came to, there was no blood on his clothing and no cuts on his hands.
He left the house to cool off, but he said police never believed him.
"My conscious is clear even till this day," explained Flores-Tello.
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During cross-examination, Prosecutor Ron Gale pointed out he has no memory of killing his stepfather, because he blacked out.
"Mr. Tello isn't what happened here is that you were angry. You were drunk… really drunk. Carlos [Alfredo Sub-Choc] had smacked you around a little bit. You ran to the kitchen and grabbed a knife and killed him," Gale said. "As soon as you saw your roommate picking up the phone to call 911 you were out of the house not even bothering to put something on your feet?"
"No" Flores-Tello fired back.
The jury began deliberating Thursday afternoon after closing arguments. They will now decide whether Flores-Tello is guilty of first-degree murder.