BOSTON, June 26, 2015—An H-Block gang member has been sentenced to up to eight years in prison for causing the death of 40-year-old Kelvin Rowell, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.

MICHAEL “FRESH” STALLINGS (D.O.B. 3/31/89) faced sentencing today after a Suffolk Superior Court jury convicted him earlier this month of involuntary manslaughter and unlawful possession of a firearm in connection with Rowell’s 2012 death from an asthma attack he suffered while fleeing after Stallings opened fire on a group of men on Blue Hill Avenue and Pasadena Road.  Assistant District Attorney Julie Higgins of the DA’s Homicide Unit recommended that Stallings serve 18 to 20 years in prison for manslaughter and an additional three to five years for unlawfully possessing the firearm used in the incident.  Judge Edward P. Leibensperger sentenced Stallings to six to eight years for manslaughter and a concurrent four to five years for the firearm conviction.

Prosecutors had indicted Stallings for first-degree murder.  He was acquitted of two counts of armed assault with intent to murder.

Higgins presented evidence and testimony at trial to prove that Stallings, armed with a .40 caliber handgun when he opened fire at a group of men that included Rowell on the night of Jan. 23, 2012.  Higgins sought to prove that Stallings was gunning for rivals from the Castelgate gang; however Rowell was not affiliated with any gang.

Fleeing the gunfire, Rowell ran along Pasadena Road, where he collapsed from a severe asthma attack triggered by the stress and exertion of running for his life.  He was found unresponsive with his inhaler in his hand and transported to Boston Medical Center.

Rowell remained in a coma for 42 days before his death on March 5, 2012.

A GPS device that Stallings was wearing at the time of the shooting placed him at the scene – a violation of a court-ordered curfew.  Boston Police arrested him in August 2012 with a firearm that was later matched to shell casings found at the Blue Hill Avenue and Pasadena Road.

He was indicted in January 2013 after an exhaustive grand jury investigation.

Higgins was second-seated by Assistant District Attorney Teresa Anderson of the DA’s Appellate Unit.  Jennifer Sears was the DA’s assigned victim-witness advocate.  Stallings was represented by Stephen Weymouth.

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