5 charged in 2012 slaying of Hector 'Macho' Camacho

The first suspects arrested nearly 10 years after the fatal shooting of Puerto Rican boxing legend Héctor 'Macho' Camacho appeared in court Wednesday to face murder charges.

Five men are accused in the slaying of the former three-division world champion and a friend while they sat in a Ford Mustang outside a bar called “Azuquita” in the northern city of Bayamón in November 2012. The friend, identified as Adrián Mojica Moreno, who had nine small bags of cocaine in his pocket and a 10th bag that was open, was also shot.

Three of the suspects were already serving federal sentences for unrelated crimes and were extradited from Florida as part of "Operation Knockout." A fourth suspect was apprehended in the early morning hours in the same city where Camacho was slain. Police armed with assault weapons surrounded his residence and knocked on a window. He was removed from the home just minutes after with only a towel wrapped around his waist. A fifth suspect remains imprisoned in Puerto Rico in an unrelated case.

Authorities also revealed two other suspects were killed in 2013 and 2015.

Three of the suspects were serving federal sentences for unrelated crimes and were flown in from Florida as part of what police called “Operation Knockout.” A fourth suspect was arrested in the pre-dawn hours in the same city where Camacho was killed, emerging with only a towel wrapped around his waist just minutes after police with long weapons surrounded his house and knocked on a window. A fifth suspect remains in a Puerto Rico prison for an unrelated case.

Hours after the suspects were formally charged, Camacho's mother, Maria Matias, arrived at Puerto Rico's Department of Justice.

"Justice! Justice has been done," she exclaimed as she raised her right fist.

Camacho was shot in the face and was declared clinically brain dead but remained on life support for several days as relatives came together to decide next steps.

The suspects, identified as William Rodríguez Rodríguez, Luis Ayala García and Joshua Méndez Romero, arebeing held on an $800,000 bond. The fourth suspect, identified as Jesús Naranjo Adorno, is being held on a $300,000 bond. Juan Figueroa Rivera, identified as the fifth suspect, is being held on a $1 million bond.

“They gave me justice,” said Camacho’s mother via The Associated Press. “I can sleep in peace. I can eat and drink a little cup of coffee in the morning.”

Camacho (79-6-3, 38 KOs), who won titles at 130, 135, and 140 pounds, sent the legendary Sugar Ray Leonard into retirement in 1997. Furthermore, he twice defeated Roberto Duran, and went on to defeat Rafael 'Bazooka' Limon, Ray 'Boom Boom' Mancini, Vinny Pazienza, and Edwin Rosario, among many others. Camacho, who was 50 at the time of his passing, was never knocked out in his 30-year professional career. He also lost world title fights to a trio of Hall of Famers: Julio Cesar Chavez, Oscar De La Hoya, and Felix Trinidad.