BOSTON, Feb. 15, 2018—A Suffolk Superior Court jury today convicted a Charlestown man of first-degree murder and related offenses for his role in the 2014 murder of 17-year-old Ryan Morrissey and acquitted two others accused of also taking part.

Jurors deliberated for about six full days before convicting JULIO BAEZ (D.O.B. 2/28/91) of first-degree murder, armed assault with intent to murder, and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon causing serious bodily injury. He faces a mandatory life term at a hearing scheduled for 11:00 tomorrow morning.

“No verdict can bring Ryan Morrissey back or undo the harm his friend suffered that night, but this jury brought some measure of justice for both,” Conley said. “For the community at large, this case took a dangerously violent individual off of Boston’s streets.”

Morrissey and another young man were shot outside a convenience store on Main Street in Charlestown on the night of Nov. 5, 2014. Morrissey’s injuries were fatal; his 19-year-old friend survived. During a week and a half of trial, prosecutors introduced evidence and testimony that Baez and two other men – ALEXANDER SOTO (D.O.B. 9/6/97) and DANILO SOTO (D.O.B. 7/10/93), who are not related – undertook a joint venture to commit the shooting.

The evidence established that Baez was a knowing participant in executing the fatal encounter. But prosecutors believe witnesses who could have provided critical testimony opted to lie or remain silent instead. As a result, jurors never heard the full truth of what happened that night.

 “We believe the totality of the evidence supported each and every charge, even without certain testimony that would have been valuable,” Conley said. “We’re disappointed with parts of the verdict, but we respect the jury’s hard work over almost an entire week to reach it. Our concern right now is for the Morrissey family and the grief, as raw now as ever, they’re still confronting.”