Somerville man nabbed in Chelsea murder case
Accused of gunning down teen on corner last year
A Somerville man accused of gunning down a Chelsea High School freshman and wounding a 15-year-old boy while firing toward a crowded street corner last year was arrested yesterday and will face a murder charge tomorrow, officials said.
Juan Carlos Matos Figueroa, 21, was arrested by state and Chelsea police at a residence on Jacques Street in Somerville and will be arraigned tomorrow in Suffolk Superior Court on charges including first-degree murder and attempted murder stemming from the Jan. 13, 2017, shooting that claimed the life of 15-yearold Jimmy Vasquez, Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley and Chelsea Police Chief Brian Kyes announced yesterday in a statement.
A Suffolk County Grand Jury returned indictments against Figueroa Friday for his alleged role in the shooting at the intersection of Shurtleff and Bellingham streets that left Vasquez with a fatal gunshot wound to the stomach and another 15-yearold boy with a bullet wound to his foot, authorities said. Figueroa will also face four counts of attempted assault and battery with a firearm related to the four youths who escaped the barrage uninjured.
“Jimmy Vasquez wasn’t involved in gangs, guns, or violence,” Conley said in a statement. “He wasn’t in the wrong place at the wrong time. He was an innocent young man doing what kids his age have always done — hanging out with his friends on a Friday evening. I hope his family takes some comfort in knowing that Chelsea Police, State Police, and Suffolk prosecutors never forgot him or gave up on his case.”
Kyes said Vasquez and his friends were hanging out outside an apartment building about 5:30 p.m. when two people got out of a passing car wearing hooded sweatshirts with the hoods pulled up and one of them fired at least nine rounds into the crowd. Vasquez, the oldest boy of six children and a freshman at Chelsea High School, was rushed by ambulance to CHA Everett Hospital, where he died from his injuries.
“This case represents the high level of professionalism, collaboration, and unyielding perseverance that the community can count on from Chelsea Police,” Kyes said in a statement. “With State Police detectives assigned to the DA’s office, they were steadfast in their collective efforts to provide justice, closure, and solace for the family of Jimmy Vasquez.”