Victim dies; new charges are filed

Charges against a Eugene man have been upgraded from second-degree assault to second-degree manslaughter in connection with an alleged attack outside a Eugene bar on March 1.

Rodolfo Zambrano, 32, was arrested Friday and charged with second-degree manslaughter, according to Eugene police.

The victim in the case, 47-year-old Anthony Lee Garrett, was taken off life support at PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center at RiverBend on Wednesday and died on Thursday, according to one of Garrett’s former co-workers.

A spokesman at the hospital confirmed that Garrett died on Thursday, and Eugene police confirmed that he was the victim in the March 1 incident outside the Horsehead bar downtown.

It was unclear Saturday whether Zambrano had ever been released from the Lane County Jail after being arrested on the assault charge after the Saturday night incident on March 1 outside the bar at 99 W. Broadway, but he is being held there now, according to jail records.

Eugene police initially arrested Zambrano after concluding that he shoved and punched Garrett, who was knocked unconscious and struck his head on the sidewalk, police said.

Zambrano and Garrett had been asked to leave the bar a short time earlier because they had been arguing, police said.

Zambrano ran from the area after the alleged assault but was taken into custody a short time later., police said.

He has a history of local arrests in recent years, including being charged with a parole violation in connection with the March 1 incident, according to jail records.

Zambrano also was arrested on parole violation charges in November and was arrested on several charges in March 2011, including felony assault, drunken driving and menacing, according to jail records.

Garrett apparently was from the Chicago area, according to Brian Russell of Eugene, who worked with Garrett at Alsco/American Linen in west Eugene.

Russell, 30, said Garrett had worked there doing various jobs for the past six or seven months and was trying to get his life back together after some previous struggles.

“He was a great guy,” Russell said. “He had this very uplifting attitude. He was all about life.”

Co-workers were worried when Garrett didn’t show up for work on Monday, March 3, Russell said. Supervisors later said he was in the hospital with serious injuries after the assault, Russell said.

Co-workers tried to go see Garrett at the hospital but were told no visitors outside of family were allowed, he said.

He had “very bad head trauma,” Russell was told.

“From what I know, he pretty much got sucker punched and landed head-first on the concrete,” Russell said. “We were kind of wondering every single day if he was going to make it.

Russell said he didn’t know of Garrett having any family in Oregon and that relatives came from Illinois and Kentucky after the attack and made the decision to take him off life support.

“It’s a tragedy, and it shouldn’t have happened the way it did,” Russell said.

“A good guy trying to get his life back together.”

Police ask that any witnesses to the attack that ultimately took Garrett’s life, or anyone with any information about the case call Detective Jennifer Curry at 541-682-5166.