BOSTON, Sept. 3, 2014—A Chelsea man has been sentenced to life in prison after he admitted to murdering 21-year-old Elder Morales, whom he wrongly believed to be a gang rival, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said today.
JONATHAN CASTRO (D.O.B. 7/30/90), a.k.a. JONATHAN CASTRO SOLA, a.k.a. MANUEL JONATHAN CASTRO MENJIVAR, today pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in Morales’ March 5, 2013, shooting death; armed assault with intent to murder for firing upon a second man in the same incident; unlawful possession of a firearm, and carrying a loaded firearm. At the recommendation of Assistant District Attorney Mark Zanini, Suffolk Superior Court Judge Thomas Connors imposed the mandatory term for second-degree murder of life in prison with the eligibility for parole after 15 years, with concurrent sentences of 10 to 12 years for armed assault with intent to murder, four to five years for unlawfully possessing the firearm he used in the murder, and 2 ½ years in the house of correction for carrying a loaded firearm.
Had the case proceeded to trial, Zanini would have presented evidence and testimony to prove that on March 5 of last year, Castro was among a group of several men affiliated with the 18th Street gang in Chelsea who approached a Blossom Street home where they intended to attack Morales and the surviving victim as they stood on the building’s front porch.
The men believed the victims were members of a rival gang and that one of the men had previously attacked Portillo, but prosecutors say Morales had no ties to the gang and neither victim had been involved in any prior altercations with any of the defendants, Zanini said.
When the group neared the porch, Portillo allegedly ran at Morales and attacked him with a knife; Romero followed. Castro, who approached from the opposite side of the street, then crossed Blossom Street and fired approximately five shots as the victims attempted to run inside the building, Zanini told the court. Morales was struck once in the chest and once in the back of the head and collapsed in the building’s vestibule; he died at Whidden Memorial Hospital.
Amid a fast-breaking investigation by Chelsea Police detectives and State Police assigned to Conley’s office, Castro was arrested the next day and made incriminating statements during a recorded interview. Two other Chelsea men were identified in the course of a grand jury investigation and were also charged with Morales’ homicide: ELDER PORTILLO (D.O.B. 8/1/94) is charged with second-degree murder and ERICK ROMERO (D.O.B. 7/2/98), a juvenile at the time of the crime, is charged with manslaughter. A third, ARMANDO LOPEZ (D.O.B. 12/4/84), was indicted as an accessory after the fact to murder. All of their cases are pending in Suffolk Superior Court.
Zanini was second-seated by Assistant District Attorney David McGowan. Castro was represented by attorney Frances Robinson.
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All defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
