Man charged with manslaughter in North Side bar fight that turned fatal

Charges have been filed in the death of a Berwyn man who suffered fatal injuries during a fight last month at a Goose Island neighborhood bar.

Pedro Soto, 42, of Roselle, is charged with a felony count of involuntary manslaughter in the Jan. 14 death of 31-year-old Jenaro Carballo.

Soto and Carballo were standing on a platform at Estate Ultra Bar and Yacht Club, 1117 N. Elston Ave., when they got into an argument, Cook County prosecutors said.

Carballo had turned his back when Soto grabbed him from behind and threw him off the platform, which was raised about 6 inches off the ground, prosecutors said. Carballo struck his head on the ground and Soto began to kick him when security staff at the bar intervened.

Soto’s attorney disputed the narrative for the fight offered by prosecutors and said Carballo was drunk and had accosted Soto several times.

Officers were called to the bar about 3:30 a.m. following a report that someone had fallen, Chicago Police said.

Carballo was taken to Northwestern Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office. His death was ruled a homicide caused by blunt force trauma to the head and torso in an assault.

Prosecutors said Carballo suffered a lacerated spleen and bleeding on the brain.

After the fight, which was captured on surveillance video, Soto walked out of the bar and high-fived someone, prosecutors said.

He turned himself in to authorities Tuesday.

Soto was convicted of battery in 1997 and convicted of attempt to possess and distribute a controlled substance in 2003, for which he was sentenced to 94 months in federal custody.

Sotos’s attorney said the controlled substance was ecstasy.

He was ordered not to have contact with any of the witnesses of the fight and his bail was set at $100,000.

He was scheduled to return to court March 6.