The Kickham Comment - Boston Criminal Attorney Blog
It’s stories like today’s, which would make anyone outside of the profession of criminal law or law enforcement, pause to wonder what it is inside people that causes them to sometimes act the way they do. Not me. As a Massachusetts criminal defense lawyer, I’ve seen it all. Yet today’s post is no less unfortunate than those that have preceded it.
The Worcester County District Attorney’s office reported yesterday (Labor Day,) that two Fitchburg area teenagers were killed in a fight that began over a parking space in a driveway outside a party. The Worcester district attorney reports that Nelson Geraldino, 18, was stabbed multiple times and that Pedro Genoa, 17, was shot in the abdomen and suffered other injuries in the early Sunday morning fracas in Fitchburg. Genoa’s 18-year-old brother, Ronny Genoa, was also hospitalized with multiple gunshot wounds. Three suspects have been arrested: Two brothers who were injured in the fatal confrontation, Orville Carrion, 22 and Jose Carrion, 27, have been charged with murder and are being held without bail. Genoa’s 18-year-old brother, Ronny Genoa, was also hospitalized with multiple gunshot wounds, and has been charged with assault with intent to murder and mayhem. Mayhem, as my website explains, is an aggravated form of assault and battery. This charge essentially alleges that the defendant either did or had the intent to dismember the victim or otherwise inflict grevious bodily injury, such as slashing someone’s face or amputating an appendage (ear, finger, foot, etc.) A knife or blade is commonly involved with such a charge.
Based upon my experience as a Massachusetts murder defense lawyer, I smell either alcohol or some other drugs involved here – in the sense that they caused this fight to escalate to murder, not in the sense that this was necessarily a drug deal gone bad (as can often be the case.) This case may have been a variant of road rage, a crime increasing in frequency. My advice to anyone involved in such a situation: Keep your head calm and your wits about you. Getting cut off in traffic, or losing a parking space to an inconsiderate boor, is nowhere near worth risking your life and freedom for.