Gunman Gets Prison in Triple Shooting that Left Man Paralyzed

BOSTON, August 22, 2017— A Roxbury man was sentenced today to 20 years in prison after a jury last week convicted him of trying to murder three people when he opened fire on their car on a summer afternoon two years ago, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.

A Suffolk Superior Court jury on Thursday found FABIAN GONZALEZ (D.O.B. 4/9/91) guilty of aggravated assault and battery causing serious bodily injury, armed assault with intent to murder, unlawful possession of a firearm, carrying a loaded firearm, discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a building, and two counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon for the 2015 triple shooting that left a young man with permanently debilitating injuries and wounded two women.

During a sentencing hearing today, Judge Peter Lauriat imposed a term of 15 to 20 years in state prison. Assistant District Attorney Catherine Ham, who prosecuted the case at trial, recommended 18 to 20 years.

“No verdict or sentence can undo the harm that was inflicted on these three victims as they sat trapped and helpless in a car,” Conley said. “But I hope this result can at least give them and their families some satisfaction that justice was done.”

During the course of a weeklong trial, Assistant District Attorney Catherine Ham introduced evidence and testimony to prove that the three victims were sitting inside a parked car in the parking lot of the Academy Homes development on the early afternoon of Aug. 3, 2015. Security cameras at the development captured Gonzalez exit the passenger’s side of a white pickup truck and approach the vehicle, unseen by the victims.  He stopped near the rear driver’s side of the vehicle and opened fire, striking the three victims.  Gonzalez then ran back to the truck and fled the area.

One of the victims, then 19, was struck in the head. Though he survived the shooting, he sustained a traumatic brain injury that required multiple surgeries over the course of a year that the victim spent hospitalized.  He was left paralyzed and has suffered seizures and multiple strokes as the result of his injuries.

The second victim suffered a gunshot wound to the ribs, and the third was struck in the leg. Both survived their injuries.

The pickup truck was found abandoned less than a mile from the scene of the shooting. Boston Police detectives learned that it had been rented under Gonzalez’ name, and criminalists identified his fingerprint on the passenger’s side door handle, the evidence showed.  Investigators also used security camera footage, witness descriptions, and other evidence in identifying Gonzalez as the shooter.

Jennifer Sears was the DA’s assigned victim-witness advocate. Gonzalez was represented by Gordon Spencer.

 

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All defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.