Latest news with #HampdenCountyDistrictAttorney'sOffice
Yahoo
02-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Chicopee teen charged with murder following shooting investigation
CHICOPEE, Mass. (WWLP) – A Chicopee teenager was arrested and charged with murder following a deadly shooting last Thursday. Hampden County District Attorney's Office Communications Director Payton North shared that on May 29 at approximately 9:00 p.m., the Massachusetts State Police Detective Unit assigned to the DA's Office received a report of a shooting in Chicopee. Springfield police investigating deadly weekend shooting Officers from the Chicopee Police Department were called to 16 Charbonneau Terrace after reports and found an injured man with multiple wounds. Emergency crews performed immediate life-saving measures, but the victim passed away shortly after. The victim has been identified as 21-year-old Tre Kingsbury of West Springfield. Detectives arriving at the location were able to identify and arrest 17-year-old Jayshawn Kempton of Chicopee as a suspect connected to the shooting. On Friday, Kempton was arraigned in Chicopee District Court and charged with murder and illegal possession of a firearm. Kempton is being held without the right to bail and is scheduled in court on June 26 for a pre-trial conference. The Hampden County District Attorney's Office State Police Detective Unit and the Chicopee Police Department are continuing to investigate the incident. WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
22-04-2025
- Yahoo
Woman found dead near Springfield bike path
Springfield homicide detectives are investigating the death of a woman whose body was found near a bike path Tuesday morning. Officers responded to the 1500 block of Hall of Fame Avenue around 8 a.m. for a report of an unresponsive person located near a bike path, Springfield police said. The woman was declared dead shortly after. The Chief Medical Examiner's Office has been tasked with autopsying the body, Springfield police said. Homicide detectives and the Hampden County District Attorney's Office's murder unit are investigating the woman's unattended death. No further information has been released. 'American Idol' crosses historic voting milestone during Season 23 2 WPI students part of lawsuit against federal government over visa terminations Read Harvard's lawsuit challenging federal funding cuts Mass. casino winner: 88-cent bet turns into jackpot prize After legal battle, PETA to obtain UMass monkey lab records in settlement
Yahoo
17-04-2025
- Yahoo
Why a Mass. man is still in prison after his murder conviction was overturned
Five days after a judge overturned his wrongful murder conviction, Edward Wright remains locked up at the Massachusetts Correctional Institution in Norfolk — just as he has been for the last 40 years. Despite evidence that was hidden by prosecutors for decades and new DNA tests that point to Wright's innocence, the 63-year-old man is not yet free, and the Hampden County District Attorney's Office is still fighting to keep him behind bars. 'He's just the most incredible human being,' Wright's wife of 15 years, Mimi Olivier, said outside the John J. Moakley Courthouse in Boston on Thursday. 'I'm anxious and scared, but I have a lot of faith in the Innocence Project and in Eddie,' Olivier said. The first thing her husband wants to do when he's released is go fishing — and the second is eat a 'big, juicy hamburger.' Olivier, 59, stood in the spring morning air next to members of the New England Innocence Project, Wright's legal team and some inmates exonerated with the help of the Innocence Project as they discussed the next steps in Wright's case. A blown-up picture of Wright was in Olivier's hands. Words at the top read, 'The fight continues.' Wright was convicted at the age of 22 on April 11, 1985 for the stabbing death of his friend Penny Anderson in her Springfield apartment the year before. Until Hampden Superior Court Judge Jeremy Bucci finally overturned Wright's conviction on April 11, district and federal courts had denied all five of his previous motions — filed between 1986 and 2012 — that showed evidence of his innocence. That included a 2008 ruling where a Boston federal judge found Wright to have 'actual innocence' after hearing testimony that Allen Smalls, the victim's former boyfriend who died in 2021, had confessed to her killing twice. Nigel Tamton, a member of Wright's legal team, told reporters on Thursday the denials were because a key piece of evidence about the case was hidden from Wright and his legal team for nearly four decades: a Springfield Police Department report. 'Before all the evidence was collected from the crime scene and while Mr. Wright was in police custody, somebody broke in to Miss Anderson's apartment,' Tamton said. 'The police wrote a report about the break-in and put that report in the police file connected with the murder investigation. But then, they stopped,' he said. 'They never investigated the break-in further, and even though this break-in contaminated the crime scene, the prosecution did not give the report that proved the break-in happened to Mr. Wright until 2021 — 36 years later, even though he was entitled to it, asked for it decades earlier, before his trial," Tamton. Wright's legal team contended the perpetrator of the break-in was Smalls, whom they also said threatened Anderson the night she was murdered and sold a knife the day after her death. They also pointed out all three Black men in the jury pool were excluded, leaving only one Black woman on the otherwise all-white jury. Although the judge overturned his murder conviction on Friday, Wright is not yet exonerated. Instead, his court case is essentially reset, and he still faces his original charges, with more legal proceedings to come. Hampden County District Attorney Anthony D. Gulluni issued a statement pushing back against the ruling. 'We strongly disagree with this decision and we have filed a notice of appeal and intend to argue this matter, once again, to defend the integrity of the conviction,' Gulluni said. He called the killing of Anderson a 'senseless and tragic act of violence,' and said Wright had received a 'fair trial.' 'We stand by the integrity of the original prosecution and the many judicial reviews that this case has already received over the past four decades,' Gulluni said. Wright's legal team has requested a hearing to seek Wright's release from prison, but did not have a date scheduled as of Thursday morning, said Radha Natarajan, executive director of the New England Innocence Project. The team will also monitor the district attorney's appeal, Natarajan said. If the courts agree to hear the appeal, it could take up to another two years for litigation to finish — but if not, it would be the prosecution's decision whether it would retry the case against Wright. 'In a recent hearing, the prosecutor said that Mr. Wright's case is not re-triable. We agree that it is not re-triable, but more importantly, we believe it should not be retried, because Mr. Wright is innocent,' Natarajan said. 'Enough is enough, and it is time to end this injustice,' Natarajan said. Several of the exonerated men who stood with the New England Innocence Project members on Thursday knew Wright in prison — including Jabir Pope, a 72-year-old man exonerated in 2021. At the end of the conference, Pope posed for pictures with his fellow former inmates and asked Olivier to send them to him. He still communicates often with Wright through Olivier, he said, though he hasn't seen Wright since his own release. Pope and Wright would often have conversations about fighting their wrongful convictions, Pope said. During his time in prison, Wright has helped many other inmates in their legal proceedings as he dealt with his own. It was a way for them to cope and 'lean on one another,' Pope said, as the lifetimes of their families and loved ones' passed both men by. 'We would have those kind of conversations, because the only alternative were to lay out and die,' Pope said. 'It's one of the things that kept us alive.' Man with extensive criminal history charged with stabbing in New Bedford Person in critical condition after being shot in head in Chelsea Ex-Harvard morgue manager to plead guilty in stolen body parts case Maryland man accused of coercing Mass. teen to travel for commercial sex ICE arrests Brazilian woman charged with raping child on Cape Cod
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- Yahoo
Victims identified in Hebron Street shooting in Springfield
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) – The two men who died from gunshot wounds on Hebron Street in Springfield have been identified. Hampden County District Attorney's Office Communications Director Payton North said that on April 2 at approximately 5:40 a.m., members of the Springfield Police Department were called to a home on the 0-100 block of Hebron Street following reports of a shooting. Shooting on Hebron Street in Springfield leaves two men dead Upon arrival, officers found two men inside of the home with gunshot wounds. The victims were brought to Baystate Medical Center, where they both passed away due to the severity of their injuries. The victims have been identified as 55-year-old Noe Martin of Springfield and 35-year-old Justin Santiago of Springfield. Hampden DA Anthony D. Gulluni expresses his condolences to the loved ones of the victims. This incident is being investigated by the Springfield Police Department Homicide Unit under the direction of Captain Trent Duda in conjunction with the Hampden District Attorney's Murder Unit. Law enforcement said that there is no ongoing public safety threat. WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
06-04-2025
- Yahoo
Brockton construction workers killed; fatal shooting on Lenox Street: 5 top stories
BROCKTON — Three construction workers — including two from Brockton — were struck and killed March 28 while repairing damaged guardrails on I-91 North in West Springfield, according to the Hampden County District Attorney's Office. Brockton gathered at the War Memorial to honor the 18 Brocktonians who lost their lives in the Vietnam War. "This is something that's long overdue for the city of Brockton," said Dennis Hursey. "It should have been done 30 years ago." A Whitman man won a $200 a week for life prize in the Massachusetts State Lottery's new '$200 a Week for Life" instant ticket game. As players start to take the diamond for the 2025 softball season, we need readers' help choosing our Enterprise Brockton-area High School Softball Preseason Player of the Year. Votes are unlimited and polling closes on April 9. Vote here. In case you missed it, here are five of the top stories from the past week. Three construction workers — including two from Brockton — were struck and killed Friday, March 28, while repairing damaged guardrails on I-91 North in West Springfield, according to the Hampden County District Attorney's Office. The driver, who fled the scene of the crash on foot, is now facing three counts of manslaughter and one count of leaving the scene of personal injury and death, according to the DA's office. 'Tragic and unfair': 'Tragic and unfair': 2 Brockton construction workers killed in triple fatal highway crash A 20-year-old from Brockton was identified as the victim of an overnight shooting Friday, March 28, according to the Plymouth County District Attorney's office. Syncere Lindsay, 20, of Brockton, was reportedly found suffering from a gunshot wound lying face down on a sidewalk outside 88 Lenox St. in Brockton shortly after 3:30 a.m., according to officials. Victim identified: 20-year-old victim identified in fatal Brockton shooting, funeral services announced Man shot on Lenox Street has died: UPDATE: Man shot in Brockton overnight on Lenox Street has died: What we know On Saturday, March 29, Brockton gathered at the War Memorial to honor Marine Cpl. Staniszewski and 17 other Brocktonians who lost their lives in the Vietnam War. "This is something that's long overdue for the city of Brockton," said Dennis Hursey. "It should have been done 30 years ago." Hursey, a 1965 graduate of Brockton High, lost six classmates. The Brockton teacher and coach went to the mayor's office with the idea for a remembrance ceremony. Mayor Robert F. Sullivan said yes. 'Long overdue': 'Long overdue': Brockton honors its 18 'American heroes' killed in Vietnam. Who were they? A Whitman man won a $200 a week for life prize in the Massachusetts State Lottery's new '$200 a Week for Life" instant ticket game, the lottery announced in a written statement on March 31. The $2 instant ticket game went on sale on Feb. 18. Whitman man wins instant ticket game: Whitman man wins '$200 a Week for Life' instant ticket game. What he'll do with winnings An unidentified man was killed in a car fire on a roadway in Hanson shortly before 3 a.m. Monday, March 31, according to local and state officials. Hanson officials found the adult male on Union Street inside a 2012 Chevrolet Impala with the engine compartment engulfed in flames, officials said. Hanson firefighters extricated the victim, who was the sole occupant in the burning vehicle, and provided immediate medical assistance. The victim was transported to an area hospital where he was later pronounced dead, officials said. Man killed in car fire in Hanson: Man killed in car fire on Hanson roadway in middle of night. What we know Staff writer Kathy Bossa can be reached by email at kbossa@ Support local journalism by purchasing a digital or print subscription to The Enterprise today. This article originally appeared on The Enterprise: Brockton-area top stories: Construction workers killed; fatal shooting
