Judge hands getaway driver a life sentence
Parents: All that Ryan deserved taken away
A getaway driver for two alleged gunmen who carried out a botched hit that killed an innocent teenager and wounded another was sentenced to life in prison yesterday.
Ryan Morrissey, 17, and his friend James Lawton were shot while inside a Charlestown convenience store in November 2014. Morrissey died the following day.
“He wanted to join the service then go on to be a Boston firefighter,” said Stephen Morrissey, the slain teen’s dad. “He would have met the love of his life, gone on to get married, have beautiful children to raise.
“All these things and more are what Ryan deserved,” he said.
“He embodied all that was good in the world. All that Ryan deserved was taken from him and our family on the night that he was murdered.”
On Thursday, a jury convicted Julio Baez, 26, of first-degree murder, armed assault with intent to murder as well as aggravated assault. Judge Janet Sanders yesterday sentenced Baez to life without parole for the murder, up to 18 years for the attempted murder and up to 15 years for aggravated assault.
“That Ryan and James Lawton were likely not the intended targets of this shooting, does not make it any less of an executionstyle killing,” Sanders said. “It truly was.”
The two co-defendants, Alexander Soto, 20, and Danilo Soto, 24, were acquitted of the same charges.
Baez was arrested on March 10, 2015, and has been in custody since that time.
Stephen Morrissey — whose wife, Carol, stood beside him as he read their statement in court — said their son’s life has brought out much good in the Charlestown neighborhood.
“Shortly after Ryan died, numerous scholarships in his name were founded and have successfully raised over $250,000 in Ryan’s memory. His memory will send countless kids to high school, college and summer camps,” his father said. “Thousands of people have donated or said a kind word about him. The outpouring of support is a massive testament to the kind of person that Ryan actually was.”