An Allston man admitted stabbing Julio Villalta to death in Allston last year, just a few hours after a recently-apprehended fugitive was formally charged with the shooting death of Shawn Flores in September, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said today.

JULIO CESAR MARISCAL (D.O.B. 12/1/70) of Allston pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter for Villalta’s death on an Allston sidewalk on the night of Aug. 3, 2010. Mariscal made the admission as jury selection in his second-degree murder trial was about to get under way.

Speaking in Suffolk Superior Court this afternoon, Assistant District Attorney Ursula Knight told the court that Mariscal stabbed the 40-year-old Villalta in the chest during an argument inside Mariscal’s Mansfield Street home after a night of drinking. The knife penetrated Villalta’s lungs and stomach and pierced his heart. Villalta was found a short time later near the intersection of Mansfield and Lincoln streets, mortally wounded. The knife was also there, with the victim’s blood on its blade and that of an unknown person on the handle.

Emergency medical technicians rushed Villalta to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, where he died of his injuries early on the morning of April 4. Later that same day, Boston Police homicide detectives received a call indicating that Villalta’s killer was named “Freddie” and lived at an address on Mansfield Street.

While detectives were at that address, Mariscal rode up on a bicycle. The detectives asked him what his name was.

“Freddie,” he said. “Uh, no, it’s Julio.”

Mariscal had a large, fresh cut on his hand. The blood on the knife handle was later found to contain Mariscal’s DNA.

Mariscal will be sentenced in courtroom 815 of Suffolk Superior Court at 10:00 Monday morning.
Earlier today, KENDRICK CLARK (D.O.B. 3/19/74) of Mattapan was arraigned in Dorchester District Court on charges of murder and unlawful possession of a firearm for the Sept. 22 shooting death of Shawn Flores, 29. Flores died later that night of gunshot wounds sustained near the intersection of Blue Hill Avenue and Abbott Street at about 9:20 p.m.

Conley approved a warrant charging Clark with Flores’ murder on Oct. 3 amid a fast-paced investigation by Boston Police homicide detectives. He was not immediately apprehended, however, and investigators believe he fled the area to avoid arrest.

On Oct. 31, members of the Boston Police Fugitive and Apprehension Unit, assisted by US Marshals and local authorities, apprehended Clark in a Raleigh, North Carolina, hotel room. Clark waived rendition proceedings and was flown back to Boston last night.

Clark’s attorney, Michael Bourbeau, did not challenge Assistant District Attorney David Fredette’s request that Clark be held without bail. The case will return to court on Dec. 2.