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Suspect claims he acted in self-defense as new details emerge in deadly Kelly’s Tavern shooting

Posted at 4:46 PM, Oct 31, 2018
and last updated 2018-10-31 18:17:25-04

CHESAPEAKE, Va. – The case against a man involved in a deadly shooting outside of a popular Chesapeake restaurant could soon go to trial.

Eric Bachmeier faced a judge Wednesday morning on murder charges.

Without showing much emotion, 33-year-old Bachmeier listened inside a Chesapeake courtroom as his ex-girlfriend described the moment she said he killed her current boyfriend, Hector Clemente.

She told the judge she and Clemente were at Kelly’s Tavern in Chesapeake for karaoke night in July.

As they were leaving, she said friends of the victim got into a fight with Bachmeier outside.

Soon after, she testified Bachmeier and Clemente got into an altercation that ended with him shooting Clemente in the back three times.

However, Bachmeier said he was acting in self-defense.

In court documents News 3 obtained, he told an officer, "I was attacked. I was defending myself."

He said a friend of the victim was speaking negatively to him as he was leaving the restaurant.

The documents said the victim's friend "pushed him to the ground near the bush and the defendant's gun, which was in a black holster on his right hip, came loose from the locked position and fell out onto the ground."

After that, the paperwork reads that Bachmeier regained control of his gun while on his back on the ground, looked up and saw the new boyfriend moving toward him.

Bachmeier "said he thought he was going to get stomped out so he fired his weapon at the new boyfriend, Hector Clemente."

He admitted he had been drinking before the incident, according to the court documents.

During Wednesday's preliminary hearing, his attorney also pointed out that about three weeks before the murder, Bachmeier called police to Kelly’s Tavern saying Clemente assaulted him.

Bachmeier did not address the court during the hearing.

Based on his ex-girlfriend’s statements and those of the lead detective, the judge found enough evidence to certify his murder charges.

Bachmeier is due back in court next month.