A former Venezuelan baseball player working for the San Diego Padres was detained by U.S. immigration officials after arriving in Texas on a work trip for the club, his family said Tuesday.
Oswaldo Pirela, a catching coach in the Padres' minor league system, was being held in a detention center in El Paso, federal records show. The Padres said in a statement that the team was aware of Pirela's arrest and was trying to gather more details.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement did not immediately return an email seeking comment Tuesday.
Pirela was on a work trip when he was arrested Sunday around 5 a.m. at an airport in El Paso, according to Daniela Pirela, his sister. The Padres have a minor league affiliate team in the city, the El Paso Chihuahuas.
Daniela Pirela said her 34-year-old brother has lived in U.S. for 12 years and has followed the law. She said he applied for asylum in 2015 and lives in Peoria, Arizona, with his wife and two children, ages 9 and 4, who are both U.S. citizens.
“Since he arrived in this country, the only thing he’s done is follow the rules of this country and do things properly,” Daniela Pirela told the The Associated Press.
Oswaldo Pirela had a brief minor-league playing career as a catcher in the Texas Rangers organization.
Turbay is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
FILE - Detailed view of a San Diego Padres logo on a pitching mound during batting practice prior to a baseball game between the Padres and Boston Red Sox, May 20, 2023, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Brandon Sloter, File)
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Some members of Tupac Shakur's family stepped out of the courtroom Tuesday before prosecutors showed photos from his autopsy at the Las Vegas trial of Duane “Keffe D” Davis, who is charged with orchestrating the 1996 drive-by shooting that killed the rap giant.
Others remained in the courtroom to face the grim facts of what happened to his body.
Dr. Lisa Gavin, a forensic pathologist and medical examiner for Clark County, Nevada, was among the early witnesses on the second day of testimony. Jurors were shown a photo of a green body bag at the beginning of her questioning, followed by a grisly photo of his body. Some relatives who remained in the courtroom looked away. One woman got up to leave once the photos were shown.
Shakur’s cousin Zayd Akinyela said he wanted to stay in court to learn more.
“I feel like the details, especially for people that are close to him, honestly for me helps, helps the grief process. I think we’ve been waiting 30 years to grieve properly,” Akinyela told The Associated Press outside the courtroom. “A lot of people don’t get to grieve until they understand what happened to their loved one and how it happened. He added, “That’s why I wanted to stay and just see for my own personal closure.”
Akinyela said he hadn't known how many times his cousin was shot. Gavin described three bullets, one of which traveled through Shakur's chest, including through a lung. That caused his lung to collapse and bleed, and doctors ultimately removed the damaged lung in an effort to save his life, she said.
Additional bullets damaged his intestines and other parts of his body, she said.
Jurors looked intently at the photos of Shakur’s body, which was bloated and had multiple chest wounds. The nearly full courtroom was quiet. One photo showed his tattoos and the chest tubes that were still in his body from the six days he spent in the hospital before dying.
The images were not shown in the video feed from the trial.
Gavin was not at Shakur’s autopsy but was called as an expert witness because the examiner from 30 years ago has since died.
As Gavin explained the photos, Davis sat still, looking at the screen in front of him. He occasionally whispered in his attorney’s ear.
Family members who had stepped out returned for the testimony of subsequent witnesses.
Akinyela said the photos made him feel “Very angry, very angry, to say the least, very sad.”
But he said, “I’m very spiritual, so just seeing the body doesn’t affect me the same way as it might some people. I do believe that his spirit is still around and still lives on through his family and through his legacy.”
Prosecutors allege Shakur was killed to avenge Shakur’s entourage attacking Davis’ nephew Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson a few hours earlier at the MGM Grand after a Mike Tyson fight.
On Tuesday, jurors were shown the casino's surveillance video of the clash. The camera, which panned back and forth in the MGM Grand, showed a group of people beating and kicking someone on the ground.
The video showed Shakur and his entourage moving quickly through the crowded building in the minutes after. At times, the other men had to jog to keep up with the rapper.
The surveillance footage then showed security and police arriving at the scene and talking to Anderson, who was wearing a number 13 Dan Marino Miami Dolphins jersey.
A few hours later, Shakur, riding in a black BMW with hip-hop mogul Marion “Suge” Knight, was gunned down by shots fired from a white Cadillac that had Davis, Anderson and two other men inside. Davis is not charged with pulling the trigger.
Davis, 63, could get life in prison if he's convicted of murder with a deadly weapon with the intent to promote, further or assist a criminal gang. He has pleaded not guilty. His lawyer in the defense opening called the prosecution's narrative “fiction.”
Lawyer Michael Sanft told jurors Davis wasn't previously charged, despite implicating himself in interviews and his memoir, because law enforcement knew that he was “full of crap.”
Shakur remains a cultural icon and is considered one of the most influential and versatile rappers of all time. He died as his popularity was peaking at age 25, and his legend has only grown in the years since.
His rap rival, the Notorious B.I.G., was killed six months later in a shooting that has always been paired with Shakur's in the public memory.
That shooting has already been discussed at this trial and likely will be again. A former Los Angeles police detective testified that Davis was briefly a suspect in the shooting of the rapper born Christopher Wallace, but was ruled out. The court day began Tuesday with a recording of Davis talking to detectives about the Wallace shooting.
Associated Press Writer Rebecca Boone contributed from Boise, Idaho.
Michael Ingram, investigator for MGM Resorts, points to a map of the MGM Grand casino as he testifies during the murder trial of Duane "Keffe D" Davis related to the 1996 killing of rapper Tupac Shakur, at Clark County District Court Regional Justice Center in Las Vegas, on Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/John Locher, Pool)
Duane "Keffe D" Davis in court for his murder trial related to the 1996 killing of rapper Tupac Shakur, at Clark County District Court Regional Justice Center in Las Vegas, on Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/John Locher, Pool)
Clark District Court Judge Carli Kierny, center, speaks with defense attorney Michael Sanft, left, and Chief Deputy District Attorney Marc DiGiacomo during the murder trial of Duane "Keffe D" Davis related to the 1996 killing of rapper Tupac Shakur, at Clark County District Court Regional Justice Center in Las Vegas, on Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/John Locher, Pool)
Duane Davis listens as Brent Becker, a retired Las Vegas Metro Police Department homicide detective, testifies by video feed during his murder trial, related to the 1996 killing of rapper Tupac Shakur, at Clark County District Court Regional Justice Center, Monday, Aug. 17, 2026, in Las Vegas. (Steve Marcus/Pool Photo via AP)
Michael Sanft, attorney for Duane Davis, left, asks a question to Garry Dale, a former Las Vegas Metro Police Department officer, during the Duane Davis murder trial, related to the 1996 killing of rapper Tupac Shakur, at Clark County District Court Regional Justice Center in Las Vegas,, Monday, Aug. 17, 2026. (Steve Marcus/Pool Photo via AP)
An illustration is displayed during the Duane Davis murder trial, related to the 1996 killing of rapper Tupac Shakur, at Clark County District Court Regional Justice Center in Las Vegas, Monday, Aug. 17, 2026. (Steve Marcus/Pool Photo via AP)
District Court Judge Carli Kierny confers with Michael Sanft, attorney for Duane Davis, left, and Chief Deputy District Attorneys Marc DiGiacomo, center, and Binu Palal, during the Duane Davis murder trial, related to the 1996 killing of rapper Tupac Shakur, at Clark County District Court Regional Justice Center in Las Vegas, Monday, Aug. 17, 2026. (Steve Marcus/Pool Photo via AP)
Duane Davis appears in court during his murder trial, related to the 1996 killing of rapper Tupac Shakur, at Clark County District Court Regional Justice Center in Las Vegas, Monday, Aug. 17, 2026. (Steve Marcus/Pool Photo via AP)
