A 36-YEAR-OLD man was shot dead at home after an argument with his neighbor in barangay Amatugan, Tuburan town, northern Cebu.
Lemuel Lato was shot in the face.
He was rushed to the Tuburan Health Center but did not make it alive.
His neighbor, Elemuel Bayo, 22, was arrested by police in his home shortly after the murder.
Bayo denied involvement in the crime.
The victim’s wife, Sheryl, told police that she and her mother-in-law were talking past midnight yesterday when they heard bursts of gunfire.
The wife said she ran to the kitchen of their house and saw her bloodied husband slumped on the floor.
The couple’s two daughters aged 10 and 6 told police that they saw Bayo run outside their house after the gunshots.
Police said Lato and Bayo, who live 500 meters apart, had argued two hours before the killing.
Police said that an unlicensed home-made .357 caliber handgun with five live bullets was recovered from Bayo’s possession during his arrest.
Bayo underwent a paraffin test but the results were not available as of press time./CORRESPONDENT RHEA RUTH V. ROSELL