BOSTON, May 4, 2012—A Roxbury man was held without bail today after being formally charged with the beating death of his roommate, 50-year-old Roosevelt Harris, in February, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.

CRISTIAN RODRIGUEZ (D.O.B. 7/19/76) was arraigned today on a murder charge stemming from Harris’ Feb. 9, 2012, homicide inside the Tremont Street apartment they shared. Boston Police and Suffolk prosecutors identified Rodriguez as a suspect early in the investigation and obtained a warrant for his arrest on March 7; they soon learned that Rodriguez had been arrested in Bedford shortly after the homicide and was in already custody.

Polumbaum told the court today that Rodriguez was seen fleeing the scene and placing a baseball bat in a nearby trashcan after the incident that claimed Harris’ life. A trash collector later recalled seeing it on Feb. 10 and noting that it appeared to be stained, Polumbaum said.

The bat was not recovered, having been sent with the rest of the trash can’s contents to be ground and incinerated.

On learning that Rodriguez had been apprehended in Bedford shortly after Harris’ death and charged with various offenses related to an alleged attempt to steal a car, Boston Police homicide detectives obtained the clothes he had been wearing and had them tested. Those tests led to the recovery of DNA evidence matching Harris’ genetic profile.

Katherine Moran is the DA’s assigned victim-witness advocate. Rodriguez was represented today by attorney Aviva Jeruchim. He will return to court on May 29.

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