‘Afraid’ of what he would do
Cop-slay suspect’s mother had restraining order
The mentally disturbed young addict accused of executing Weymouth police Sgt. Michael Chesna and killing widow Vera Adams with a stray bullet from the fallen cop’s gun was declared medically unfit yesterday to be arraigned on murder charges.
Brockton native Emanuel A. Lopes, 20 — whose own mother had an active restraining order against him at the time of Sunday morning’s slayings in a quiet Weymouth neighborhood — was still at South Shore Medical Center last night recovering from a gunshot wound to the leg he sustained when Weymouth officer Sean Martin saw Lopes standing over a mortally wounded Chesna in the middle of Burton Terrace with the gun still in his hand.
Lopes’ mother, Kerry Neill, 40, of Weymouth, declined to speak to a Herald reporter yesterday, but told authorities in a court affidavit dated Oct. 3, 2017, that she and her daughter had moved out of another home trying to get away from him, but that he tracked them to their new apartment. Her active restraining order against her son was in effect until Sept. 28.
“I told him several times he couldn’t stay there or visit because of his mental health/drug issues (doing them),” Neill wrote. “Emanuel has severe mental health issues and I am afraid of what he is capable of.”
Court records indicate Lopes has sought treatment for substance abuse at both the High Point Center in Plymouth and the Massachusetts Alcohol and Substance Abuse Center in Bridgewater.
When Sunday’s mayhem unfolded, Lopes was free on $500 bail he posted in November weeks after his arrest on an open case involving charges of dealing cocaine at a beach party for minors in Weymouth and resisting arrest. Police noted in their report, “We have fought with him before.”
A report by state trooper Brian Tully released by Quincy District Court yesterday detailed Sunday’s chaotic and deadly scene in a quiet South Weymouth neighborhood. Chesna, 42, a father of two, was searching for Lopes at 7:30 a.m. Sunday after Lopes allegedly crashed his girlfriend’s mother’s BMW into a Dodge Journey SUV at Main and Columbian streets, telling the other driver, “I’m sorry.” Chesna found Lopes in the process of throwing a large decorative garden rock through the window of a home on nearby Burton Terrace. A witness told investigators Lopes picked up another rock and charged at Chesna, throwing it from a dozen feet away and hitting the officer in the head so hard he dropped to the ground. Tully said Lopes grabbed Chesna’s duty weapon and fired five times into his head and five more times into his torso and legs. When police finally apprehended Lopes, the gun was empty.
The window Lopes had allegedly broken prior to his encounter with Chesna was covered with a black tarp yesterday.
“It happened right there,” homeowner William Kendall said, pointing out where Chesna was gunned down. The horror remained too intense for him to elaborate.
“It’s just too traumatic,” Kendall said.
Martin, finding Lopes standing over Chesna with the fallen officer’s gun in his hand, fired at the 6-foot, 3-inch suspect, who fled on foot to Torrey Street, where he passed through Adams’ backyard, turned in her driveway and fired three more rounds from Chesna’s gun, police said. Adams, 77, was struck once in the chest, killed by a bullet that came through her enclosed porch.
Sandra Boucher, 67, sister of Adams’ late husband, Donald, said, “She was a wonderful person. She liked people, but she was a very quiet, reserved person” who liked to shop and spend time reading mysteries over a cup of coffee on her porch.
For the past three years, Adams hasn’t been able to drive, after injuring her leg tripping over a package and falling down some stairs, an accident that resulted in several surgeries, Boucher said.
“She was finally back in her routine when this happened,” Boucher said.
“I have no idea what (Lopes) was thinking, whether he thought she had seen something or it was a stray bullet. It’s such a sad situation. I don’t think it’s sunk in yet. I will miss her dearly.”
Lopes is facing two charges of first-degree murder. The Norfolk District Attorney’s office said it was told Lopes was medically unfit to be arraigned. It was unclear last night when Lopes will be arraigned and whether the proceeding will occur in court or bedside at the same hospital where Chesna was declared dead Sunday.