A young man from Queens who was fatally shot in Puerto Rico while visiting for a Bad Bunny concert was planning to propose to his girlfriend in the fall, his grieving mom told the Daily News.
Kevin Mares, a 25-year-old East Elmhurst man, was fatally shot at a nightclub in San Juan’s La Perla neighborhood just before 4:15 a.m. Sunday, authorities said. Mares was an innocent bystander when gunfire erupted, police said.
“I’m just devastated. Like, I can’t believe it. I’m in denial,” Mares’ girlfriend of seven years, Angy Arguello, 24, told the News. “Every time he’d walk into a room, it would light up. And he was honestly a genuine, trustworthy person. Any problem that I had, he always had my back.”
Mares, Arguello and friends attended Bad Bunny’s concert in San Juan on Saturday night, then continued to multiple after-parties, Arguello said.
As the night progressed, Arguello grew tired and went back to their hotel, but Mares stayed out with friends, she said. Arguello told him, “Please, be safe” as they parted.
The shooting occurred at a club called Refugio de Hombres Maltratados (Shelter for Mistreated Men), cops said. Investigators said an argument erupted in the club, and one person pulled a gun and started shooting.
“They were standing in the wrong place at the wrong time,” family friend Claudia Saenz told the News.
Courtesy of Angy Arguello
Kevin Mares (right) attends a pool party with his girlfriend Angy Arguello (left), hours before he was fatally shot at a nightclub in the La Perla neighborhood of San Juan early Sunday. Mares and Arguello were in San Juan to attend a Bad Bunny concert. (Courtesy Angy Arguello)
No suspects have been named or arrested. Detective Arnaldo Ruiz said police “have very little information.” One of Arguello’s cousins was out with Mares at the end of the night and saw him collapse, she said.
“He saw him walking out of the bar kind of limp, and then he collapsed,” Arguello said. “He walked out to see what was going on, because he didn’t know what was going on. And that’s when he noticed the blood.”
Two additional people, Miguel Melendez Beltran, 46, and his sister, 45-year-old Keila Melendez Beltran, were wounded in the shooting but survived, Telemundo Puerto Rico reported. They are both residents of the island.
Mares’ mother, Sandra, said her son informed her in the spring that he was planning to propose to Arguello in the fall. Arguello said she had no idea; she began crying after hearing of his plans.
“I was waiting for him,” she said through tears. “Of course I would have [said yes].”
RICARDO ARDUENGO/AFP via Getty Images
Fans line up to attend the first show of Bad Bunny’s 30-date concert residency at the Coliseo de Puerto Rico in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on July 11. (Photo by RICARDO ARDUENGO/AFP via Getty Images)
Mares worked as a veterinary technician on Long Island while studying to become a veterinarian and was a massive Bad Bunny fan, having already seen the Puerto Rican star multiple times.
“He was a lovely child,” Sandra Mares said through tears. “He loved his family so much. He was always here with us. Sometimes he cooked for us because he loved cooking. He used to garden. He has a garden in here.”
Mares was also a talented singer and enjoyed performing with his 15-year-old brother, who played guitar.
“Sometimes we all do that on the weekend. We gather, and then my older son sings, and my younger son, he plays the electric guitar for us,” Sandra Mares said. “He likes Mexican music because we’re from Mexico. And of course reggaeton, Bad Bunny.”
Kevin Mares posted videos from Puerto Rico on his social media, including his hotel (left) and a pool party he attended (right) hours before he was fatally shot at a nightclub in the La Perla neighborhood of San Juan early Sunday. Mares, 25, was in San Juan with his girlfriend to attend a Bad Bunny concert. (Instagram)
Mares’ family said they are planning to have his body flown back from Puerto Rico for a funeral in New York. They were told the process would cost $23,000 and have started a GoFundMe to help with the funeral expenses.
For decades, La Perla was known as a particularly dangerous neighborhood, and even police reportedly avoided it. However, a federal raid in 2011 led to dozens of arrests and the conviction of a local community leader.
But there have still been violent incidents in recent years. In 2021, a tourist from Delaware was killed and his body was torched; police said he was trying to take pictures in the neighborhood after being warned against it.
And in 2023, three tourists were stabbed in the neighborhood after police said they were attempting to film a short video.
With News Wire Services
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