Test shows Padilla not Johnny’s biological father
Teresa Tapia claimed 2010 test was tainted
A court-ordered January DNA test indicates conclusively that Jerry Padilla is not the late Johnny Tapia’s biological father, according to a copy of the test results obtained by the Journal.
Padilla was introduced as the five-time world champion’s longlost father in 2010 on the strength of a DNA test that reflected a 99.997-percent probability of paternity. But in 2014, Teresa Tapia, the fighter’s widow, called the 2010 test tainted and submitted to the news media a DNA test that indicated Johnny Tapia and Jeffrey Padilla, Jerry Padilla’s oldest son, could not have had the same father.
Teresa Tapia was married to Jeffrey Padilla in 2014. They later divorced.
The January DNA test was ordered by State District Judge Clay Campbell in connection with a civil suit filed in 2015 by Teresa Tapia against Padilla.
Through his attorney, Pete Domenici Jr., Padilla issued the following statement:
“I have been told ... that there are inconsistent DNA results in regards to my being Johnny Tapia’s father. I cannot comment on this until the results are verified and examined by a third party.
“This matter is far from over. My relationship with Johnny Tapia, as his father, will never change, or be taken away.”
Whether Padilla actually was Johnny Tapia’s father was initially tangential to the lawsuit. Teresa Tapia claimed Padilla was attempting to profit from use of the boxer’s name and image without her permission as sole representative of her late husband’s estate and sole owner of Johnny Tapia Presents LLC. Teresa Tapia asked for an injunction and $25,000 in damages.
Padilla later filed a countersuit, claiming Teresa Tapia had falsified the 2014 DNA test and that her contention that he was not Johnny Tapia’s father had caused him humiliation and lost business opportunities. He asked for $50,000 in damages.
In December 2015, Angelo Artuso, Teresa Tapia’s attorney, filed a motion requesting that Padilla be required to submit to DNA testing. Jeffrey Squires, Padilla’s attorney at the time, argued that the 2010 DNA test was valid and conclusive and that Padilla should not be required to submit another sample. Moreover, Squires said, whether Padilla was actually Johnny Tapia’s father remained irrelevant to the lawsuit.
In May 2016, Campbell ruled in Teresa Tapia’s favor and ordered Padilla to submit to a blood test. Campbell ordered that a reliable sample of Johnny Tapia’s DNA be acquired from the Office of the Medical Investigator. Johnny Tapia died from heart disease in May 2012.
On Jan. 4, Padilla had blood drawn at Mobile Medical Associates, 401 Alvarado SE in Albuquerque.
“I was there at the testing facility when he went in and stayed there until he was done,” Artuso told the Journal. “I saw the FedEx envelope that they put the test sample in to mail off to the testing lab.”
The results of the test, conducted by Independent Forensics DNA Testing & Technologies of Lombard, Ill., are the following:
“Jerry L. Padilla is excluded as the father of Johnny Tapia.”
In November 2016, Teresa Tapia filed an amendment to the lawsuit, claiming that Padilla had forged the 2010 DNA test document that indicated he was Johnny Tapia’s father.
Padilla denied the allegation, continuing to claim it was Teresa Tapia who falsified the 2014 DNA test.
Artuso has not yet filed the new test results with the court.
“We’ll attach it as an exhibit to a motion when we’re ready to ask the court to make some rulings as a result of those test results,” he said.
As for the lawsuit itself, a jury trial has been scheduled for Dec. 4.
Johnny Tapia, a two-time Golden Gloves national amateur champion as a teenager, compiled a 59-5-2 professional record. He won his five world titles in three classes.
Tapia struggled with a cocaine habit throughout his adult life and spent time in jail. Yet, after his death, some 7,000 people attended a memorial service at the Pit.
Jerry Padilla is a three-time convicted heroin dealer. He was released from federal prison in 1994.
Teresa Tapia, the former Teresa Chavez, married Johnny Tapia in 1993. She later became his manager. Since his death, she has been married briefly to actor-singer Darius McCrary, to Jeffrey Padilla and to former Albuquerque boxer Archie Ray Marquez.
Marquez is being held at Clark County (Nev.) Jail on $500,000 bail. He is awaiting trial on multiple charges of domestic battery and sexual assault.
On a copy of the criminal complaint from the Henderson, Nev., Police Department obtained by the Journal, the name of the alleged victim has been redacted.