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Tag: middlesex district attorney

  • Lowell High students released on bail after alleged armed robbery

    LOWELL — Two Lowell High School students and two unidentified juveniles are facing several charges, including armed robbery, after police say they attacked a teenage boy and stole his backpack shortly after he stepped off a bus on Lincoln Street earlier this month.

    Devonathan Thanongsinh and Fidell Chan, both 18, along with two 17-year-old boys whose names were redacted from Lowell Police reports due to their age, are accused of striking the victim in the face with a handgun that officers later recovered.

    Police said they have not determined which suspect wielded the weapon.

    The group also allegedly assaulted the victim’s 58-year-old grandfather when he tried to intervene in the attack.

    According to an officer’s incident report, the assault occurred shortly after 3 p.m. on Dec. 5, when police were called to the 400 block of Lincoln Street for a report of a teen who had been attacked “by a group of kids” on the sidewalk.

    When one of the responding officers arrived in the area, he saw a blue Mazda traveling the wrong way on a one‑way section of Lincoln Street and noticed a pickup truck farther up the road that appeared to have been involved in a crash. The Mazda, meanwhile, had heavy damage to its doors and tires, the report said.

    The driver of the Mazda — later identified by police as Thanongsinh — attempted to maneuver around the cruiser but was unable to get by. The officer activated his lights and conducted a traffic stop.

    “(Thanongsin) … denied being involved,” the officer said in the report. “I then asked what had happened to the vehicle in which he did not have an answer.”

    The officer reported that three other “young male” occupants were inside the Mazda with Thanongsinh, including the two 17‑year‑old boys and Chan, who was seated in the rear driver’s‑side seat.

    As the officer was speaking with the group, he was approached by a woman who said her son — whose name was redacted from the report — had just been assaulted by the four males in the Mazda.

    According to the report, the woman told police she was inside her Lincoln Street home when she heard screaming outside. She tried calling her son, but he did not answer. Moments later, he ran into the house and told her he had been jumped.

    Another family member approached the officer and said that one of the occupants of the Mazda had “used a handgun to pistol whip” the victim, the report said.

    With that information, the officer told the four occupants to remain in the vehicle while additional units were called to the scene. At one point, one of the 17-year-olds allegedly opened his door and tried to get out despite the instructions.

    The officer said in the report that he “commanded him to remain inside and to close the door in which he complied. I then further instructed all four occupants to remain inside and do not do anything too stupid. All complied.”

    Once other officers arrived, the occupants were ordered out of the Mazda one at a time. None of them had weapons on them, according to the report, but officers spotted a handgun on the front passenger‑side floorboard in plain view.

    The weapon turned out to be a 9mm loaded with a magazine containing nine rounds.

    The victim later told police, according to the report, that he had just gotten off a bus with friends and was walking toward his home when a group approached him and struck him with a closed fist.

    He also said he was hit in the face with a “hard object.”

    He told police he could not identify his attackers because they were all dressed in black and wearing masks.

    The teen said he “blacked out” during the assault, the report said. When asked whether he saw a gun, he said “I thought, I think I did,” but added he could not be certain.

    A friend who had been walking with him told police he saw a gun as the group approached and immediately dropped his backpack and ran. Both his backpack and the victim’s were stolen and later allegedly found in the Mazda. The backpacks contained laptops and other personal belongings.

    Police also interviewed the victim’s grandfather, who said he saw four males “punching and kicking” his grandson. He tried to intervene but said the group then turned on him, striking him multiple times in the nose and head and causing him to fall and feel as though he had been “knocked out.”

    He said he was also unable to identify the attackers because they were dressed in black and wearing masks, according to the report.

    After the alleged assault, the victim’s grandfather told police he saw the four attackers get into the Mazda and drive off. He said he got into his pickup truck and followed them around the block. As he did, the Mazda drove the wrong way onto Lincoln Street and allegedly struck a parked vehicle.

    According to the report, the 58‑year‑old told officers he then positioned his truck to block the Mazda from leaving. The Mazda then is alleged to have struck his vehicle moments before the responding officer arrived on scene.

    The officer said in his report that none of the four suspects claimed responsibility for the handgun found in the Mazda or for the assaults. He added that the incident “appeared to be a planned attack on the victims,” noting that surveillance footage showed the masked assailants punching both the teen and his grandfather before stealing the backpacks.

    Both the teen and his grandfather were taken to Lowell General Hospital’s Saints Campus following the attack.

    Thanongsinh and Chan, along with the two juveniles, were charged with masked armed robbery, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, carrying a firearm without a license, carrying a loaded firearm without a license, assault and battery, and assault with a dangerous weapon.

    Thanongsinh also faces a charge of leaving the scene of property damage.

    Because of their ages, the outcomes of the juveniles’ cases were not available in court records.

    Lowell District Court documents show that Thanongsinh and Chan were arraigned on Dec. 8 and ordered held without bail pending 58A dangerousness hearings on Dec. 11, a proceeding used to determine whether a defendant poses a risk to the public.

    The Middlesex District Attorney’s Office requested they be held without bail. However, after those hearings, a judge set bail for both men at $2,000 cash, which they posted the same day.

    Court documents show that roughly 30 letters were submitted in support of Thanongsinh as part of his 58A dangerousness hearing, including one from a Lowell High School staff member who said the 18‑year‑old “excelled academically” in the classes he taught during Thanongsinh’s sophomore year and again now as a senior.

    “Throughout the time I have known him, Devonathan has consistently demonstrated maturity, responsibility and strong character,” the staff member said in the letter. “He approaches his coursework with diligence and focus. His academic performance as a sophomore stood out among his peers.”

    The letter described him as “polite, respectful, and genuinely well‑mannered,” adding that he “conducts himself with kindness and humility, and interacts positively with both classmates and teachers.”

    “He may have made some poor decisions, but I believe his foundation of strong character and his family will help him atone for those lapses in judgment and become the productive adult I know he can be if given the opportunity,” the staff member concluded.

    Court records show neither Thanongsinh nor Chan have criminal records.

    As a condition of their release on bail, both Thanongsinh and Chan were ordered to remain in the custody of their mothers, continue with their high school educations, avoid all contact with the victims and witnesses, possess no dangerous weapons, abstain from drugs and alcohol, and comply with a 24/7 curfew and GPS monitoring.

    According to court documents, Thanongsinh was brought back to court the day after his release for what was initially believed to be a curfew violation.

    His attorney, Thomas Torrisi, stressed on Friday that the allegation was later determined to be unfounded, explaining that Thanongsinh had not left his home and that the issue stemmed from a GPS signal problem.

    “They determined he had absolutely never left the house, so there was no violation found by the judge,” Torrisi said.

    Torrisi added about the case that “we’re very much at the infant stages at this point.”

    “There’s an awful lot that still needs to be done before we’re in a position to know the totality of the circumstances,” he said.

    Chan’s attorney, Stephen Barton, was unavailable for comment.

    The pair are scheduled to return to court for a pretrial conference on Jan. 20.

    Follow Aaron Curtis on X @aselahcurtis, or on Bluesky @aaronscurtis.bsky.social.

    Aaron Curtis

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  • Lowell’s Back Central neighborhood a ‘mini Mass and Cass’

    LOWELL — During last Tuesday’s City Council meeting, Councilor Corey Belanger called the city’s Back Central neighborhood a “mini Mass and Cass,” referring to the area of Boston plagued by the same homeless, drug and crime crisis that has been growing for several years in Lowell’s poorest neighborhood.

    “On the back of Charles Street … the sidewalk was completely overrun, tents on the sidewalk, open-air drug use going on,” he said. “We need help.”

    Between March and September, the Lowell Police Department recorded a staggering 10,000 police dispatch entries in the densely populated neighborhood, which is roughly bounded by Appleton Street to the north, Chambers Street to the south, Thorndike Street to the west and Lawrence Street to the east.

    The police calls resulted in more than 18,000 officer call-offs, reflecting the significant resources required to manage incidents in this area. During this same period, 606 arrests were made — or on average, 100 per month — with 117 individuals arrested two or more times, and 20 individuals arrested five or more times.

    Councilors Corey Robinson and Erik Gitschier’s motion requested City Manager Tom Golden have a conversation between the council and key stakeholders centered around “challenges with our transient community.”

    Golden said he was trying to “work toward a solution” on what he described as a “revolving door” of people being arrested by the police only to be released back out on the streets by the judges at Lowell District Court.

    “There’s a lot going on here,” he said. “I can report back.”

    But councilors, while praising the city’s policing and social outreach efforts, were exasperated by the lack of coordination between the courts, state-level departments and other social and legislative agencies.

    “We need everybody together to help on this, otherwise we’re just going to spin our tires,” Gitschier said. “Send them down to the courthouse, they’re going to come right out of the courthouse and these numbers are just going to continue to escalate and escalate and no one really gets help. And that’s the sad part — people are not getting help.”

    Although not exclusively a homeless problem, based on figures released by the LPD and the Office of Homeless Initiatives, which is under the purview of the Department of Health and Human Services, the rise in arrests of homeless people tracked with the rise in homelessness.

    The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development defines individuals as homeless if they lack a “fixed, regular and adequate nighttime address.” Last winter’s federally mandated point-in-time count, conducted during the early morning hours of Jan. 30, reported 250 homeless people in Lowell.

    Two hundred were sheltered through Community Teamwork Inc.’s hotel program in Chelmsford, and in both regular and emergency beds provided through the Lowell Transitional Living Center on Middlesex Street in Downtown Lowell. There were 50 unsheltered people living outdoors.

    Those unsheltered people were mostly living in squalid encampments scattered throughout the city, including South Common Park, a 22.5-acre public green space in the city’s Back Central neighborhood.

    The City Council passed an ordinance in November 2024 making it unlawful to camp on public property in the city of Lowell. The civil ordinance is enforceable through the LPD, and the city sanctioned so-called “sweeps” of numerous homeless encampments, including South Common.

    In early October, one person was killed and another person hospitalized after a garbage truck backed over them on Spring Street. Witnesses said the two homeless individuals had been sleeping on the narrow, alley-like street after they had been repeatedly told to leave other parts of the city, most recently South Common.

    But even homeless people with an emergency bed at night become unsheltered during the day when the LTLC, the largest adult emergency shelter north of Boston, asks its clients to leave the premises.

    According to the LPD, complaints about trespassing increased from 519 complaints in 2021 to 1,369 complaints in 2024, a more than 150% increase.

    The shelter clients generally congregate in the Jackson Street, Appleton Street, Middlesex Street, Summer Street, and Gorham Street corridors.

    “These areas have experienced a high concentration of transient individuals, which has led to recurring public safety and quality-of-life issues,” Assistant City Manger Shawn Machado said in the motion response dated Oct. 21.

    Councilor Vesna Nuon suggested that the task force approach the city took to address gang violence in the city almost 20 years ago may be a guide to Lowell’s current crisis.

    “When we had a gang issue in the city, the juvenile court judge and others participated in this,” Nuon said. “The [District Attorney] the [Middlesex] Sheriff’s Office, [Department of Children and Families] and all those entries, joined in. The court plays an important role in this.”

    Machado’s motion response noted that the city’s Community Opioid Outreach Program had been active in the neighborhood, offering outreach and services to individuals in need.

    “Despite their daily efforts, there remains a significant number of individuals who decline the services offered,” Machado’s motion response said. “This underscores the complexity of the issue and the need for a more comprehensive, multi-agency approach to address the underlying causes of chronic homelessness, substance use, and mental health challenges.”

    Machado said Golden will extend invitations to a representative from Sheriff Peter Koutoujian’s office, leadership from the LPD, district court judges serving the Lowell area, an a representative from the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office.

    “The goal of this discussion is to explore collaborative strategies that address the root causes of recidivism, improve outcomes for individuals experiencing homelessness or substance use disorders, and enhance public safety for all residents and businesses,” Machado said.

    Melanie Gilbert

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  • 25 Investigates: Trial of former orthopedic surgeon accused of rape ends in hung jury

    25 Investigates: Trial of former orthopedic surgeon accused of rape ends in hung jury

    The trial for a former orthopedic surgeon accused of rape and indecent assault ended in a hung jury. The Middlesex County jury was not polled.

    25 Investigates was there in December 2022 when James Devellis was arraigned on these charges. The victim was a person who claimed he was assaulted at Devellis’s home.

    But Boston 25 News started hearing from alleged victims of Dr. James Devellis back in 2016. Those victims—teenage boys who were his patients—also shared their complaints with the state medical board when they recalled inappropriate touching during visits with Dr. Devellis.

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    At that time, the Middlesex District Attorney declined to prosecute due to a loophole in state law that prevented doctors from being prosecuted on many claims of sexual assault and misconduct. 25 Investigates exposed the loophole, which had to do with the consent patients often unknowingly give during medical procedures.

    25 Investigates was there in September 2024 when Governor Maura Healey signed a bill into law closing this loophole, so that patients in vulnerable positions can no longer be exploited.

    The Middlesex District Attorney’s office says it plans to refile the charges against Devellis.

    We reached out to Devellis’s attorney in the case and will update when we hear back.

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    This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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  • Editorial: Both old school and high tech can crack cold cases

    Editorial: Both old school and high tech can crack cold cases

    The combination of “good old-fashioned detective work” and a relatively new high-tech investigatory tool has led to the conclusion of one cold case and a breakthrough in another, both with the help of the Middlesex District Attorney’s office.

    The conviction of Arthur L. Massie in the brutal 1971 slaying of a Bedford homemaker culminated decades of investigatory work.

    Conversely, the identification of Stephen Paul Gale, the man accused of sexually assaulting two women at a Framingham department store in the 1980s, involved a state-of-the-art, gene-matching mechanism.

    Middlesex DA Marian Ryan announced the developments in these cases on Tuesday.

    We’ve previously examined the slaying of Natalie Scheublin, the wife of a prominent banking executive who was stabbed and bludgeoned to death in her Bedford home, and the murderer who managed to evade authorities for 50 years.

    But Arthur L. Massie will now finally pay his debt to society, after freely living for decades while a family grieved and investigators chased leads.

    More than half a century after his heinous act, a jury convicted the 78-year-old Salem man of first-degree murder. Massei was also convicted of solicitation to suborn perjury, according to Ryan, who announced the verdicts at a news conference late Tuesday afternoon.

    The jury returned its verdicts after three days of deliberation, with Scheublin’s son and daughter-in-law present in the courtroom, Ryan said.

    Investigators identified Massei as a potential suspect in 1999 after they matched his left thumb to a print found on the victim’s car, which had been stolen.

    But law enforcement’s eureka moment occurred in 2019, aided by the creation of the Middlesex DA’s Cold Case Unit. Investigators began digging deeper into Massei’s past and “were able to identify a woman who admitted that she had been involved with Mr. Massei in schemes to defraud banks back in the 1990s,’’ Ryan said.

    In October of 2022, investigators “learned that the defendant, who was in the custody of the Middlesex Sheriff’s Office in Billerica at the time, had been communicating by letter with a woman outside the prison.”

    The woman said Massei told her he had organized crime connections and had stabbed someone to death inside their home, according to Ryan.

    “… While he was in custody on the murder case, Massei attempted to procure a witness to give false testimony at his trial,’’ Ryan said. “He offered a $1,000 cash payment if the witness would falsely claim that Massei was being framed for the murder.’’

    That act led to the additional charge of solicitation to suborn perjury, she said.

    Ryan said the case was ultimately solved using “good old-fashioned detective work.’’

    “It was really taking apart Mr. Massei’s life and looking at every aspect of it, who was he, who back in 1971 was he in contact with?’’ she said. “Where had he been, who had he been talking to, and really essentially retracing his life to find that.’’

    Framingham cold case

    Back on Dec. 27, 1989, a white male — now ID’d as Stephen Paul Gale, 71 — entered a Framingham department store on Route 9. He showed a .357 Magnum handgun, and forced two female employees to the back of the store, police said.

    He made one of the women empty the money from a locked safe, the store’s register and her pocketbook into a bag. He made the second victim lock the doors, and put a sign on the front door saying the store would open late.

    Gale is then accused of sexually assaulting both women while holding the gun to their heads, police said.

    Police collected evidence, and obtained the suspect’s DNA. A DNA profile was developed and uploaded to the CODIS database in 2001, but there were never any hits identifying the suspect.

    Then two years ago, Middlesex DA prosecutors and the Framingham police contracted with Parabon Nanolabs to conduct an investigative genetic genealogy to try to develop new leads.

    Forensic genetic genealogy combines traditional genealogy research with DNA analysis.

    It’s the same high-tech method that allowed DA Ryan’s Cold Case Unit, along with the Acton Police Department and several other investigative assets, to identify a suspect in a 2013 rape case.

    After additional police investigation, DNA samples were obtained from members of Gale’s family. This DNA evidence provided probable cause to identify Gale and led to Tuesday’s arrest warrant.

    Gale has been known to use the aliases Stephen Pisarcik, John Rossi, Paul Costa, Paul DeRosa, Paul DiCarli, Paul Joseph DeCarlo, Steve Miner, Paul Williams, and Paul Ptaszynski.

    He is last known to be living in Los Angeles and Las Vegas. He also may have ties to Arizona, Texas, Utah and Florida. He previously has been identified as having ties to organized crime. He stands 5’11” and weighs about 200 pounds.

    Police are urging anyone with information regarding Gale’s location to contact the Framingham Police Department at 508-532-5923.

    The lessons learned from these two updates – crimes committed decades ago – should give comfort to other loved ones still waiting for justice.

    Whether by dogged detective work or scientific investigatory breakthroughs, cold cases can be cracked.

    Natalie Scheublin, 54, was murdered at her Bedford home in 1971.(Courtesy Middlesex District Attorney’s Office)

    Editorial

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  • Still no verdict in trial for alleged murderer Timmy Chan

    Still no verdict in trial for alleged murderer Timmy Chan

    LOWELL — Approximately 11 hours of jury deliberations and still no verdict in the trial for alleged murderer Timmy Chan.

    On Tuesday, for the second day in a row, Judge Robert Ullman sent the Middlesex Superior Court jury home with Chan’s fate still hanging in the balance.

    The jury, composed of nine women and three men, began deliberating in the late morning on Monday, after the closing of witness testimony in the trial, which began May 6.

    Tuesday marked the first full day of deliberations, lasting approximately six and a half hours. The jury did not submit a single question throughout the day. The only question the group has asked thus far came on Monday, and it involved a technical issue they experienced while attempting to watch surveillance footage entered as evidence.

    The issue was resolved.

    Jurors are scheduled to dive back into the case at 9 a.m. Wednesday.

    Chan is charged with several crimes, the most serious first-degree murder, for the shooting death of 20-year-old Nathaniel Fabian on the night of Oct. 13, 2021. The murder charge carries a mandatory life sentence without the possibility of parole.

    If they decide against first-degree murder, the jury has the option of instead finding Chan guilty of the lesser charges of either second-degree murder, or voluntary manslaughter.

    Fabian’s death was the result of online bullying initiated by Samantha Chum. Middlesex Assistant District Attorney Christopher Tarrant said during his opening remarks that Chum was Fabian’s ex-girlfriend who “did not take the breakup well.”

    The target of Chum’s bullying was Thailynn Voraphonh, who was in an on-again, off-again relationship with Fabian. Voraphonh reached out to Fabian in the hopes he could put an end to the harassment. Fabian tried by contacting Chum, ultimately setting off the firestorm that ended in his death.

    After Fabian contacted her, Chum reached out to her friends, Isabella Lach (Chan’s girlfriend), Jessie Sadia Segal-Wright, Chan, and Brian Lach (Isabella Lach’s brother, and Segal-Wright’s boyfriend), recruiting them to confront Fabian.

    During the trial, Brian Lach and Segal-Wright, who were granted immunity for their testimony, implicated Chan as the gunman. Both were with Chan before and after the shooting, while Brian Lach testified he was with Chan at the time of the shooting. Segal-Wright, meanwhile, testified to using her car to drive them both from the murder scene. Isabella Lach was in the car at the time.

    Chan is the only one who was charged for the crime.

    As the jury began deliberating on Monday, Fabian’s mother, Stacey Braley, who along with many other loved ones has been in the courtroom gallery throughout the trial, expressed disappointment that more people were not charged for her son’s death.

    At the same time, she pointed out she understood the prosecution’s decision to grant immunity to Brian Lach and Segal-Wright if it helped them capture the person who actually pulled the trigger.

    Braley pointed out that all those involved in the shooting, except Chum, did not even know her son.

    “The thing I keep on thinking of is if all these kids that were involved actually knew my son, they would have loved him,” Braley said. “Everybody he met, they always fell in love with him. … He was genuinely a very good person, and if they had an opportunity, they really would have liked him.”

    Chan’s attorney, Jeffrey Sweeney, has contested during the trial that Brian Lach was the gunman. During his closing statements, he insisted to jurors that Brian Lach and Segal-Wright lied on the stand as a means to protect themselves.

    Right before the jury was dismissed for the day on Tuesday, Sweeney said the trial “went as well as it could have gone.”

    “The evidence came in really well,” he said. “Everything came in as I expected it to.”

    In addition to murder, Chan is charged with unlawful possession of a firearm, unlawful possession of a loaded firearm, unlawful possession of ammunition, and discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a building.

    Follow Aaron Curtis on X, formerly known as Twitter, @aselahcurtis

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  • Trial date set for Timmy Chan murder case

    Trial date set for Timmy Chan murder case

    LOWELL — As officers escorted alleged murderer Timmy Chan into the courtroom on Thursday morning, the mother of his alleged victim, 20-year-old Nathaniel Fabian, broke down into tears as she sat in the courtroom gallery.

    The still-grieving mother, Stacey Braley, said afterward that she had hoped Chan would face her as he walked into the courtroom.

    “I wanted him to see my face and I wanted to see his,” said Braley, who keeps a trinket containing Fabian’s ashes around her neck. “I wanted to know if he felt any sorrow or guilt for what he did.”

    Chan, 21, of Lowell, charged with crimes including first-degree murder for allegedly gunning down Fabian in October 2021, was in Middlesex Superior Court on Thursday for his final pretrial conference. His trial is slated to begin with jury impanelment on April 29.

    If convicted, Chan faces a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

    During the conference held before Judge Robert Ullman, Middlesex Assistant District Attorney Ashlee Mastrangelo provided background of the evidence set to be presented during the trial. Mastrangelo and Assistant District Attorney Christopher Tarrant are prosecuting the case.

    The shooting occurred shortly before 10:30 p.m. Oct. 13, 2021, in the area of Loring and Westford streets, outside the home of one of Fabian’s friends. Lowell Police reports state responding officers discovered Fabian on the ground, in an alleyway near 89 Loring St. He had a wound to the right side of his chest and the left rear side of his back, according to police. The Lowell resident was rushed to Lowell General Hospital’s Main Campus, where he was pronounced dead approximately 40 minutes later.

    Chan, who was 19 at the time, was apprehended by police the following night.

    The night of the shooting, Fabian had been involved in a dispute with multiple people, including his ex-girlfriend, Samantha Chum, of Lowell, as well as Chan. Fabian was dating another female at the time of the conflict, and that female had become the target of Chum’s ire, according to Mastrangelo.

    “Samantha and her friends began sort of bullying this girl online, torturing her, calling her different names … sort of derogatory names about her,” Mastrangelo said during the conference.

    The female Fabian was dating contacted Fabian and asked him if he could get Chum and the other people allegedly harassing her to leave her alone.

    “That sort of sparks among many group chats … quite a bit of inflammatory and enraged arguments over the course of the evening,” Mastrangelo said.

    A police report states there were “numerous threatening messages” sent by Chum to Fabian via text “to the effect ‘You or (Fabian’s girlfriend) is gonna die, which one is it gonna be.’”

    Police reports state Chum later told police she had texted with Fabian between 8 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. Police said Fabian was shot “by approximately 10:28 pm.”

    Chum told police that she texted people the night of the shooting — including sisters Izzy (identified in police reports as Chan’s girlfriend) and Mirenda Lach, and Jesse “Dia” Segal Wright — informing them of her issues with Fabian. Police added, however, that Chum denied “all knowledge of sending anyone to hurt Nathaniel and denied asking or suggesting anyone to do anything of the sort.”

    Police said they additionally spoke to Fabian’s girlfriend — whose name is redacted from reports — who told them just before Fabian was shot he had sent her screenshots of threatening messages people were sending him.

    The messages were from Chan, Chum, Wright and Brian Lach, of Lowell, who was 21 at the time. Police identified Brian Lach as the brother of Izzy and Mirenda Lach. The messages included demands that Fabian come outside his friend’s home in the 300 block of Westford Street, which belonged to Ivan Correa.

    Police said Wright admitted to them that she drove Chan and Brian Lach to the area of Westford Street, but claimed she “thought they were going there to fight Nathaniel.”

    Wright allegedly dropped Chan and Brian Lach off by Leroy and Grove streets, while she circled the block. According to police, Wright said she heard gunshots prior to picking Chan and Brian Lach up by Westford Street and Dover Park.

    According to police reports, when investigators showed Wright a photo of Chan during questioning, she positively identified him and quoted him as allegedly saying, “I got him, I got him,” when he got back into the car.

    Police said Brian Lach told them during questioning that he was aware Chum and Fabian’s girlfriend were having a feud, and he claimed that Fabian had threatened to shoot his house. Brian Lach also told police, according to a report, that he thought he was going to fistfight Nathaniel. However, police said Brian Lach alleged that Chan showed him a handgun before the shooting occurred.

    Brian Lach told police that Chan was walking a few feet ahead of him as they approached two men, who turned out to be Fabian and Correa. Brian Lach alleged hearing Chan say, “he might have something — take off,” at which point he saw Chan raise the handgun and fire. Brian Lach said he heard several gunshots as he fled.

    Wright picked them up with the vehicle a short time later.

    “Brian asked Timmy where the gun was because he didn’t want it in the car,” police said in the report. “Timmy said he got rid of it.”

    While talking about the case in the past, Chan’s attorney, Jeffrey Sweeney, said self-defense played a role in the shooting. Sweeney explained after the shooting occurred, Correa is seen in surveillance footage going back up to his apartment. Sweeney said police later searched Correa’s apartment, where they discovered a firearm.

    Police reports state that when Chan first spoke to authorities, he admitted he and Brian Lach went to meet up to fight Fabian, but “Nathaniel showed up with something he thought was a rifle wrapped in a blanket.” When Chan was asked by police if he actually saw a rifle, Chan said, “no but he was carrying it like one,” police reports state.

    No charges have been brought against any of the others involved in the case, much to the dismay of members of Fabian’s family.

    “It’s not right that they destroyed all our lives and they get to live theirs with no worries,” Alecia Brangan, Fabian’s aunt, has previously said. “They’re all going on with their lives, their careers and we can’t do anything about it.”

    In addition to murder, Chan is charged with carrying a firearm without a license, possession of ammunition without a firearm identification card, discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a building, and carrying a loaded firearm without a license.

    Jury impanelment is expected to be completed within two days, with jury instructions and opening statements scheduled to begin either April 30 or May 1. The case is expected to wrap up late in the week of May 6.

    Follow Aaron Curtis on X, formerly known as Twitter, @aselahcurtis

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