North Oak Cliff bakery owner pleads guilty to stabbing, burning local artist

Anthony Moreno’s 5-year-old grandson struggles to understand why his doting grandfather will never come home — and fears the man who killed him will come after the young boy.

“He is in heaven and he is with the flowers — that’s what my grandchildren say,” Ofelia Moreno told her husband’s killer inside a Dallas County courtroom. “They are heartbroken that they do not get to see him. It is hard explaining to these little kids that they have to go to a grave site to visit their grandpa.”

Well-known North Oak Cliff bakery owner Manuel Tellez, 46, pleaded guilty Monday to manslaughter in the fatal stabbing of Anthony Moreno, a popular local artist. Tellez, who faced a murder charge and up to life in prison, struck a deal with prosecutors and was sentenced to eight years deferred adjudication probation. He will not have a conviction if he successfully completes probation.

The Dallas County District Attorney’s Office declined to comment. Tellez’s lawyer, Jeff Lehman, did not address the evidence in a text message but said “we appreciate everyone’s effort and professionalism.”

Tellez killed Anthony Moreno, 52, and burned his body last spring. A detective testified at a recent hearing that the two friends were in a love triangle; Anthony Moreno’s family called the killing “lustful” and “angry” in court Monday.

“I don’t know what happened that day,” Ofelia Moreno said, dabbing a tissue behind her glasses. “I’ll never get the answers for that, and I’m fine with it, but you have to live with what you did.”

“You have to remember his face every single day, and I hope it haunts you every single day.”

Tellez, wearing a gray, striped Dallas County jail uniform and glasses, stood with his shoulders slightly hunched as he faced the judge and agreed to the plea deal. He has been jailed since his arrest last April.

The men discussed Anthony Moreno’s artwork on display at Tellez’s Maroches Bakery during a livestreamed interview on April 3, 2022, according to an arrest-warrant affidavit. After the livestream and sometime before 2 a.m., the pair walked to an alley blocks away, where police say Tellez stabbed Anthony Moreno to death, the document says.

Tellez returned just before 3 a.m. with gasoline and set Anthony Moreno’s body on fire, according to the affidavit. Surveillance footage from a nearby house captured the blaze.

Phone records and gas station surveillance video traced Tellez’s movements. He was seen at a nearby gas station wearing a white latex glove — the same type collected at the crime scene — and filling a gas can, the affidavit says. He also wore a surgical mask and baseball cap to obscure his identity, according to the affidavit.

After the slaying, Tellez posted a GoFundMe for Moreno’s family on social media, The Dallas Morning News previously reported. The fund raised more than $14,000.

Latinos in the Dallas arts community told The News they were shocked by the violence.

Maroches Bakery on West Davis Street — which remains open — is known for its popular Roscas de Reyes cake traditionally eaten for the Christian holiday Three Kings Day.