Lawyer: Stabbings self-defense
Milford man, 19, arraigned
MILFORD — A teen accused of assault and battery after a stabbing left one man mortally wounded in the middle of the street and another in critical condition was just defending himself, his lawyer argued.
Jeremy Robin, 19, stood with his head bowed during a brief arraignment yesterday morning in Milford District Court while arraigned on two counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, but a spokesman for Worcester District Attorney Joseph D. Early Jr. said the matter is still under investigation.
Milford police responded to a report of a fight on Green Street in Milford on Sunday afternoon just before 3 p.m. and found 21-year-old Timothy Commerford of Holliston laying unconscious in the middle of a roadway with a visible stab wound to his chest, court records show.
Commerford was rushed to Milford Regional Medical Center, where he later died, authorities said. A second victim, Richard Garcia, was conscious and kneeling near Commerford, records show, and “was shirtless and covered in blood. He had multiple stab wounds.”
Garcia, 54, of Milford, was taken to UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester, where he remains in critical condition, authorities said. Robin was ordered held on $100,000 cash bail and is due back in court June 8 for a probable cause hearing.
Robin told police Commerford showed up at his home armed with a knife and started fighting with him, and the teen’s mother and girlfriend came to his defense, the police report states. Garcia then showed up and struck Robin’s mother in the face, the report states, and police noted Robin’s mother had blood under her mouth and nose.
“This case is about two individuals who came to Mr. Robin’s house with the intention of attacking him, who did attack him, who did attack his mother, who did attack his girlfriend, and Mr. Robin defended them and that’s how this tragedy came to pass,” Robin’s lawyer, Brian Murphy, told reporters outside the courtroom.
“This is as pure a case of selfdefense as ever there has been,” the lawyer added.
The teenager was caught by TV news cameras flipping the bird Sunday as he was taken into custody, and a woman among the friends and family of Robin’s who gathered at court yesterday flipped off reporters as the group profanely declined comment.
Robin has several prior cases out of Milford District Court, records show, including shoplifting in March and charges from 2016, including threats, destruction of property and marijuana possession. There is also a 2016 charge of receiving stolen property, when police charged him with trying to sell stolen iPads on Snapchat.