SAN PEDRO, Mon. Feb. 1, 2016–The Director Of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has declared self-defense in the case of two friends who became involved in a machete fight while drinking, leading one to fatally chop the other, while the survivor was admitted to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital in a critical condition.

Jose Alfredo Villeda, 48, of San Pedrito, San Pedro, was released from the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital last week to recover at home, while his friend, Sergio Giovanni Uribio, 35, also of San Pedrito, has since been buried.

No charges will be levied against Villeda, because, according to the DPP, it was a case of self-defense.

The incident occurred at about 1:10 Saturday afternoon, January 16, in San Pedrito at Villeda’s home. Police reported that the men were socializing when they became involved in an argument, which escalated into a machete fight, during which Uribio got a machete and chopped Villeda, but Villeda retaliated, chopping Uribio.

According to police, Villeda was suffering from a large cut wound to the right side of his face; his left hand, had been partially chopped off at the wrist; he had been chopped on the left knee, right leg, and lower left leg; and a portion of his left pinky finger had been chopped off.

Uribio had been chopped on the left side of his neck and left arm. He was declared dead at about 1:30 that same Saturday afternoon, less than twenty minutes after his arrival at San Pedro Town’s hospital.