It will be at least 15 years in state prison for a Lynn man found guilty of opening fire on a family on Thanksgiving 2008, wounding four people and leaving one with permanent brain damage, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said Tuesday.
Ramon Altargracia, 31, aka Holvin Cruz, was convicted Monday of three charges of armed assault with attempted murder, two counts of aggravated assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, and several gun offenses.
Assistant District Attorney Holly Broadbent had recommended terms of 15 to 18 years in state prison on the lead charges plus an additional five to seven years for possessing a firearm during the commission of a felony. Suffolk Superior Court Judge Raymond Brassard sentenced Altagracia to those terms but ordered them to run concurrent with one another rather than consecutively.
"Without any warning at all, this man shot his victims again and again and again," Conley said. "It wasn’t in the heat of passion or during sudden combat. It was an ambush and nothing less."
Broadbent was able to show at trial that Altagracia got into an argument with some of the victims at the Cosmopolitan Lounge in East Boston on November 3, 2008. The words escalated to a bar fight, but no one was injured and the cops weren’t called.
The father of the victims later contacted Altagracia and apologized for the group’s behavior that night.
Three weeks later, the family members encountered Altagracia again, at another nightclub. There was no fight, and the father shook hands with him/
But on November 27, a group of eight men and women were walking to their car on Bremen Street, when Altagracia opened fire with a 9mm handgun. A woman and her brother suffered superficial injuries, but another brother, 20, was shot in the chest and arm and a 35-year-old cousin was shot in the face.
The latter victim lost an eye and suffered permanent brain damage as a result of his injuries.
Wow – I can’t believe this guy only got 15 years of prison after he tried to execute a whole family who was inside a car and no where to go. I was the witness of this shooting as I sitting in my car about a half a block away behind the incident. I helped the family and felt as if they were part of my family.
The judicial system in Boston is screwed up. Put yourself in the situation of the victims and tell me if you think 15 years of prison is enough for someone who shot to kill 5 members of your family; blinded & paralized one of yours?