In a tearful statement describing his family’s loss, the father of a 21-year-old man, who was shot and killed in apparent retaliation for a prior shooting in which he had no involvement, spoke at a Suffolk Superior Court sentencing hearing for JOSEPH GOMES.

“First of all, me, my wife and my daughter are very, very sad,” Fausto Sanchez, Sr., said through a Spanish interpreter. “To us, there is no happiness in our house; he was our happiness. He was a very special child. He was loved by everybody, by family and friends alike. He didn’t deserve to die like that.”

On Dec. 13, a Superior Court jury convicted Gomes (D.O.B. 4/20/67) of first-degree murder for the Feb. 13, 2007 murder of Fausto Sanchez, and an additional four counts of armed assault with intent to murder, two counts of assault with a dangerous weapon, and single counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and aggravated assault and battery with a dangerous weapon. Those charges stem from the non-fatal shootings of two men who were standing near Sanchez when he was shot, as well as shots fired at two other men who were not hit.

Jurors acquitted Gomes of two counts each of armed assault with intent to murder and assault with a dangerous weapon. Prosecutors had argued that two more men had been fired upon but were not hit in the same incident.

Judge Raymond Brassard sentenced Gomes to the mandatory term of life in prison without the possibility of parole, and imposed the Commonwealth’s recommended sentence of a consecutive 17- to 18-year prison term for armed assault with intent to murder for seriously injuring an 18-year-old man who is permanently disabled from gunshot wounds sustained to his back, side torso, and left arm. Gomes was also sentenced to concurrent prison sentences acknowledging each of the jury’s verdicts.

“Today’s sentence puts a very violent individual behind bars,” District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said. “As a result of his actions three years ago, this defendant showed a complete disregard for the individuals who were shot, the families who were put in the line of fire on Maywood Street, the community in general, and the Cape Verdean community in particular, of which he was a part. The sentence we recommended today reflects the seriousness of these offenses and sends a strong message to other would-be offenders: Life in prison without parole means that there is no going home.”

During the course of a trial that started on Nov. 15, Assistant District Attorneys Gretchen Lundgren and Julie Higgins argued that Gomes and his nephew, EMMANUEL DASILVA (D.O.B. 10/24/84), were bent on retaliation for shots fired near the Gomes and Dasilva family home earlier that day. When Gomes heard about the shooting and arrived a short time later, he became so enraged that Boston Police had to physically take him from the scene.

Lundgren and Higgins told the court that the defendants were looking for a man they believed responsible for that shooting when they spotted Sanchez and six other men in an impromptu meeting on Maywood Street at about 6:00 p.m.

Evidence and testimony proved that Gomes was behind the wheel of the silver 2006 Chevrolet Impala when he approached that group, came to a quick stop, and lowered the window for a volley of shots that killed Sanchez, seriously wounded two more, and sent four others running.

Gomes sped away from the scene but was stopped minutes later about a block away by a Boston Police detective who had heard a description of the suspect vehicle provided by witnesses. When Gomes and Dasilva exited the vehicle, investigators recovered six spent shell casings inside, including two on the front passenger’s seat. Those casings were ballistically matched to a casing found at the scene.
The two were arrested on the spot and charged with murder later that night, but the investigation continued on the street and behind the closed doors of the Suffolk County Grand Jury for an additional three months before the men were indicted for Sanchez’s murder.

Gomes and Dasilva went to trial together on Nov. 15. Their cases were severed on Dec. 1, when Dasilva’s attorney took ill and his case was declared a mistrial. He is expected to return to court on Jan. 6, 2011. A re-trial date has not yet been set.

Jennifer Sears was the DA’s assigned victim-witness advocate. Gomes was represented by attorney Larry Tipton.