BOSTON, May 15, 2015—The man who killed 33-year-old Steven Fuentes on a Roxbury street has been found guilty of murder, District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.

A Suffolk Superior Court jury today convicted GEORGE ORTEGA (D.O.B. 2/19/83) of Lynn of first-degree murder and unlawful possession of a firearm in connection with Fuentes’ May 24, 2012, shooting death.  Sentencing is scheduled to take place at 9:00 a.m. Wednesday, at which time Judge Linda Giles is expected to impose the mandatory term for first-degree murder of life in prison without the possibility of parole. 

Ortega’s co-defendant, ANTHONY KING SOLOMON (D.O.B. 4/18/80) of Everett, was acquitted of identical charges. Prosecutors had argued that he provided Ortega with the murder weapon and shared the gunman’s intent and legal culpability.

During the course of a seven-day trial, Assistant District Attorney Ian Polumbaum presented evidence and testimony to prove that Fuentes was killed in the course of a dispute over marijuana sales.  On the day of Fuentes’ murder, the evidence showed, he and Ortega became involved in a verbal altercation during which Fuentes punched Ortega in the face.  Ortega and a group of associates, including a man in a heavy coat whom prosecutors sought to prove was Solomon, later drove to the area of Leyland Street to confront Fuentes.  Surveillance cameras captured the group’s arrival at a nearby parking lot where they exited two vehicles.

Once on Leyland Street, Ortega and Fuentes agreed to a fight.  The two repeatedly came within feet of one another but never came into physical contact.  As they did so, each began removing articles of clothing; a surveillance camera captured Ortega removing his tank top and throwing it to the ground during the standoff.

The evidence showed that as the two combatants stripped, the man prosecutors allege was Solomon did not remove his heavy coat, despite the warm temperature that day.  The evidence showed that Ortega retreated across Leyland Street to retrieve a .45 semiautomatic firearm from the man in the coat that Ortega then fired five times, striking Fuentes twice.  One bullet entered the front of Fuentes’ hip; the second entered Fuentes’ back while he was in a crouching position and exited through his upper chest.

Fuentes fled a short distance on the sidewalk and onto the steps of a nearby home, where he collapsed.  He was pronounced dead at Boston Medical Center.

Ortega and his associates fled to the parking lot, where they were once again captured on surveillance video as they entered vehicles and left the area.  One of those vehicles matched the description of a car belonging to Solomon’s girlfriend that Solomon was known to use, prosecutors said.

In addition to surveillance video capturing portions of the incident, Boston Police homicide detectives retrieved the gunman’s discarded tank top from Leyland Street.   DNA recovered from the shirt was matched to Ortega.

Timothy Munzert was the DA’s assigned victim-witness advocate.  Ortega was represented by Barry Wilson and Solomon by Rosemary Scapicchio.

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