Hotel shooting leaves one man dead

Published 4:41 pm Monday, January 8, 2018

A witness to a fatal shooting Sunday at a Port Arthur hotel reportedly told police that no argument had taken place between the men prior to the incident.

Jeremy Mesa Bell, 32, of Port Arthur has been charged with manslaughter and felon in possession of a firearm for the shooting death of John M. Sinegal, 45, of Port Arthur.

Bond for Jeremy Bell, 32, of Port Arthur, is set at $200,000 for a charge of manslaughter in Sunday’s shooting death of John M. Sinegal. He is also facing a charge of felon in possession of a firearm with a $50,000 bond.

Police were called to the shooting at 4:47 p.m. and found Sinegal inside a room with a gunshot wound to the chest. He was transported to St. Elizabeth Hospital in Beaumont but died from his injuries on the way there, the Port Arthur Police Department said.

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An eyewitness told officers that a Judge .410 revolver, which shoots shotgun shells, discharged, killing Sinegal.

The witness also told police the two men were friends and no argument occurred before the shooting.

Bond was set at $200,000 for the manslaughter charge and $50,000 for the felon in possession of a firearm charge, an employee at the Jefferson County Correctional Facility said.

Sinegal’s death was the first homicide of 2018 for the city.

There were five homicides in Port Arthur in 2017.