The man killed Tuesday night after firing at Sanford police officers who responded to a call that he had shot his 19-year-old daughter was accused of physically abusing the same girl five years ago, according to documents on file at the Lee County Courthouse.
A single charge of misdemeanor child abuse against Juan Carlos Romero from May of 2013 was dismissed in November of the same year after he completed eight sessions of anger management courses.
Romero, 41, was killed by three Sanford police officers Tuesday night after firing a weapon at them. They had apparently been responding to a call that he had shot a 19-year-old woman at his Goldsboro Avenue home. Police have yet to identify the woman but WRAL reported her to be Ana Alvarado, Romero’s daughter. WRAL also quoted Romero’s son as saying that Romero was aiming for him and not Alvarado, who is reportedly in stable condition at UNC Hospital.
On May 7, 2013, Alvarado signed an affidavit for criminal charges describing an incident in which her father struck her multiple times with a thick power cord, causing injuries to her legs. About six weeks later, police responded again to the family’s Goldsboro Avenue home to investigate a “domestic” incident against a victim whom they did not name. That case was disposed of as “unfounded.”
In response to questions about the 2013 incidents, Sanford police provided Romero’s date of birth and directed all further inquiries to the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, which is conducting a probe into Romero’s death. Such investigations are standard practice in all police involved shootings.
