Trial slowly nears in tragic teen slay
Ryan “Duce” Morrissey should be in college today.
Instead, his mother and father are preparing to go through the agonizing trial of their beloved son’s alleged killers.
Ryan was just 17 when he was gunned down outside a Charlestown convenience store the night of Nov. 5, 2015 — hit by bullets meant for somebody else. Ryan, a hockey player and counselor at the Charlestown Boys & Girls Club, was found lying on his side after being shot in his chest. He died four days later at Massachusetts General Hospital. His 19-year-old friend was also shot but survived.
Yesterday, inside a Suffolk County Superior courtroom, Ryan’s parents and relatives sat patiently behind the three young men charged with Ryan’s brutal slaying as defense attorneys, prosecutors and a judge tediously questioned potential jurors.
It’s taken four days to seat 13 jurors, and jury selection resumes today. Opening statements in the case could be heard as early as tomorrow.
Julio Baez, 27, Alexander Soto, 21, and Danilo Soto, 25, are all charged with first-degree murder and armed assault with intent to murder. Danilo Soto and Alexander Soto, who are not related, opened fire while Baez waited in the getaway car, prosecutors say.
After their arrest, police Commissioner William B. Evans said Ryan was “simply minding his own business, hanging out with friends and doing what kids his age do, when he was mistakenly targeted and gunned down.”
Just before his 15th birthday, Ryan wrote a blog post about his future plans for the Boston Centers for Youth and Families when he was part of the Superteens summer program. It is heartbreaking to read his words today.
“I’ve lived in Charlestown all my life and I am proud of it. The community is a lot better now, but the drugs are still big problems,” wrote Ryan. “I am going to go to college and after that will get a house with a motorcycle and two dogs. I love to still be a kid but everyone has to grow up in the community to survive and that is what I’m going to do. Also, I want to meet a nice girl and have kids. That is a life to me.”
Ryan was a senior at St. Clement High School in Medford when he was killed. He played hockey for St. Joseph’s Prep and Charlestown Youth Hockey. He was a role model at the Charlestown Boys & Girls Club, where he worked as a junior counselor and where he had gone since he was 6.
Ryan was one of the good kids. He had a bright future ahead of him. His family shouldn’t be at the courthouse today.
They should be helping him get through college and mapping out his future.