Orioles reliever Alfredo Simon will be held without bail in a Dominican prison for one year pending a trial on involuntary manslaughter charges, according to The Associated Press.
The stunning development occurred late Monday night, when a judge rejected bail for the Dominican righthander. Simon surrendered to Dominican authorities in Santo Domingo earlier Monday. The 29-year-old was sought in connection with a fatal shooting of one man and wounding of another on New Year's Eve in the Dominican resort town of Luperon.
Accompanied by his attorney, Carlos Olivares, Simon surrendered to authorities in Santo Domingo and was arraigned in Puerto Plata, on the island's northern coast. Olivares will appeal the judge's decision.
Olivares told The AP that the dead man, 25-year-old Michael Castillo Almonte, was Simon's cousin. Almonte died from a gunshot wound to his chest. Castillo Almonte's 17-year-old half brother, Starlin Castillo Hernandez, was injured and remains hospitalized in Santiago, D.R.
Olivares said the weapon his client fired had been turned over to authorities so ballistics tests could be completed. He added that his client fired the weapon into the air during the New Year's celebration.
At the Santo Domingo police station Monday, Simon told reporters, "It wasn't a thing like we began arguing and I started shooting. It was some accident. That's why I came here, to open my soul." He faces up to two years in prison if convicted.
Dominican public prosecutor Victor Mueses told The AP that eyewitness accounts supported a manslaughter charge.
"The version that we have is that there was a dispute between two women and (Simon) tried to dissolve it, fired a shot that ended up wounding a young person in the arm and that same bullet lodged in the chest of the deceased," Mueses told The AP.
The Baltimore Sun reported that former Oriole Miguel Tejada was helping pay for Simon's legal costs, and that team executive John Stockstill was traveling to the D.R. to meet with Simon.
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