A Roxbury man pleaded guilty today as his trial was scheduled to begin on charges that he murdered 13-year-old Luis Gerena, Jr., as part of a gang rivalry in which the slain boy had no part, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.

NURUDEEN ALABI (D.O.B. 11/6/89) pleaded guilty to the crime of manslaughter, accepting a prison term of 17 years rather than face trial on the murder charge. He also pleaded guilty to related counts of unlawful possession of a firearm, assault with a dangerous weapon, and intimidation of a witness for which he received five years of probation upon his release. He was ordered to stay away from and have no contact with the Gerena family, the intimidation victim, or any witnesses in the case during that time.
If he does not comply with those orders, or if he reoffends in those five years, he faces up to 15 additional years in prison, Conley said.

Speaking at today’s hearing, which was held after a 16-member jury was empanelled for Alabi’s trial, Assistant District Attorney Mark Hallal told the court that prosecutors considered the defendant’s plea because the posture of the case with regard to cooperating witnesses had recently changed dramatically.
Two critical witnesses failed to appear, Hallal said, and when arrested they both indicated they would not cooperate with the prosecution. Given the state of the evidence as it stands, and after consultation with the Gerena family, prosecutors opted for the guarantee of a strong state prison sentence after a plea over the risk of outright acquittal at trial.

“Most people of conscience, confronted with the cold-blooded murder of a truly innocent 13-year-old boy, would put aside the twisted code of silence that tells them not to testify,” Conley said. “They would find the courage and the conscience to do the right thing. We’ve seen it happen many times before, and we’ve assisted hundreds of witnesses in making that choice safely. Unfortunately, the witnesses in this case did not have courage or conscience. It left us with an imperfect choice, but one that still brought some measure of closure, accountability, and resolution to Luis’ family.”

Had the case proceeded to trial, Hallal and Assistant District Attorney Dana Pierce would have introduced evidence and testimony to show that Alabi and DARRELL RODRIGUES (D.O.B. 5/24/90) were gang members associated with the Academy Homes housing development and had a longstanding rivalry with another group affiliated with the Heath Street development.

The evidence would have shown that the pair sought a ride from a female associate, DESTINY GUNN (D.O.B. 9/2/89), and, with a second young woman, went to the area of the Jackson Square MBTA station on the evening of Jan. 12, 2007. Alabi and Rodrigues left the car with the intention of robbing and shooting a rival. Instead, they encountered Gerena – an innocent boy with no gang ties who was returning from school in Charlestown. Alabi and Rodrigues surrounded him, shot him multiple times, and stole his phone before fleeing back to Gunn’s car on foot. There were no witnesses and the firearm was not recovered. Gerena was later pronounced dead of his injuries at Boston Medical Center.

In the aftermath of the incident, Alabi put a put a gun to the head of the second young woman and asked her, “Who did you tell?”

Gunn, who allegedly lied to the Suffolk County grand jury investigating Gerena’s death, is scheduled to go to trial on perjury charges next month.

Katherine Moran was the DA’s assigned victim-witness advocate. Attorney Eliot Weinstein represented Alabi.