BOSTON, Jan. 30, 2013 – A Chelsea man has been sentenced to life in prison for the unprovoked killing of another man in Chelsea, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said today.
SANTOS PORTILLO (D.O.B. 7/4/90), convicted on Friday of murder in the second degree and illegal firearm possession, today received the mandatory sentence life in prison with the possibility of parole after 15 years, and a concurrent sentence of 4 ½ to 5 years in prison for illegally possessing the firearm that he used to fatally shoot Braulio Gomez of Chelsea on July 16, 2011.
Assistant District Attorney Amy Galatis of Conley’s Homicide Unit had requested that the sentences run consecutively.
In handing down the mandatory life sentence, Judge Christine McEvoy said, “If I had discretion on the murder sentence, I would still impose a life sentence, because that’s what is appropriate based on the senseless execution…. The life sentence is appropriate in this case and well-deserved.”
During two weeks of testimony, Galatis proved that Portillo approached a group of men whom he did not know as they socialized on the porch of a Central Avenue residence around 2:20 a.m. on July 8, 2011, and asked what “set” – or gang – the men belonged to. When Gomez told Portillo that none of the men had ties to any gang, Portillo, who identified himself as a member of the MS-13 gang, then pulled out a gun and shot Gomez in the head.
Gomez was transported to Whidden Memorial Hospital in Everett, where he was pronounced dead.
“This was a case of senseless violence that ended the life of an innocent man. Thanks to the hard work of Chelsea Police detectives, State Police troopers, prosecutors, and witnesses who worked with authorities, the man responsible for killing Braulio Gomez has been brought to justice,” Conley said.
Family members delivered victim-impact statements during today’s sentencing.
“I still can’t believe my husband is gone. I cried every day and still do when I look at my girls, because I see Braulio in them and think how can someone take their father from them? How can someone not think about things first before acting?” Gomez’s wife said in a statement she delivered in court. “My husband did not deserve to die. No one deserves to die. I don’t wish this type of pain on anyone’s family.”
McEvoy stated that Portillo will likely face deportation upon the completion of his sentence.
Michael Schultz was the DA’s assigned victim-witness advocate. Gomez was represented by attorney Scott Curtis.
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All defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
