BOSTON, Feb. 23, 2017—The Chelsea man who allegedly beat 32-year-old Melvin Cortes, killing him, was arraigned on a murder charge today after his return from Ohio, where he fled after the fatal encounter, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.

KAMAYA FARIKAFI (D.O.B. 12/7/93) was ordered held without bail. He will return to court on March 14.

Assistant District Attorney Lynn Feigenbaum told the court that Cortes, a resident of Everett, was badly beaten by a man wielding a baseball bat on the evening of Feb. 5 in the vicinity of Congress Avenue and Shurtleff Street. Cortes suffered injuries that claimed his life at Massachusetts General Hospital on Feb. 11.

In the hours and days following the assault, Chelsea Police detectives and State troopers assigned to Conley’s office interviewed witnesses, recovered surveillance imagery from nearby cameras, and gathered physical evidence that led to a warrant for Farikafi’s arrest. With the assistance of the State Police Violent Fugitive Apprehension Section and, later, US Marshals, Farikafi was apprehended Feb. 15 in Cincinnati, Ohio. He waived extradition proceedings and was returned to Massachusetts last night.

The motive for the assault remains under investigation and anyone with information on the attack itself is urged to share it with Chelsea Police at 617-466-4880 or the Suffolk County State Police Detective Unit at 617-727-8817.

Jennifer Sears is the DA’s assigned victim-witness advocate. Farikafi was represented by attorney Bernard Grossberg.

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