A Roxbury gang member confessed his involvement in the 2007 shooting death of thirteen-year-old Luis Gerena, Jr., according to District Attorney Daniel F. Conley.
Darrell Rodrigues, 20, pleaded guilty Monday to voluntary manslaughter, unlawful possession of a firearm, assault and battery on a witness in the case and intimidation of a witness.
Although he did not pull the trigger, Superior Court Judge Judith Fabricant sentenced Rodrigues to serve 14-15 years in state prison with a subsequent five years of probation.
“It was very painful,” Wendy Jiminian, Gerena’s mother, said. “He didn’t deserve to die. I miss him so much. Words cannot express how I feel…. At least I can go home and tell my other kids justice was served.”
Jiminian delivered both oral and written statements in court today, in which she described the emotional hardships her family faced in the wake of Gerena’s death.
“The hardest thing I had to do was tell my other children that their brother was gone and not coming back,” Jiminian wrote.
Luis Gerena, Sr., the boy’s father, also provided a written statement to the court.
Rodrigues and Nurudeen Alabi, who allegedly fired the shot that killed Gerena, were members of a gang associated with the Academy Homes housing development. The teens went to the Heath Street development with intentions of robbing and shooting a rival gang member on January 12, 2007, and instead killed Gerena, who had no gang affiliations.
Alabi will be tried separately at a later date.
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