Co-owner of Boston bar pleads guilty
Admits helping man accused in Marine’s death
The co-owner of a downtown Boston bar where an altercation led to a Marine being fatally stabbed in March 2022 pleaded guilty Tuesday to an accessory charge for trying to help the accused killer, who worked at the bar, avoid detection after the crime.
Alisha M. Dumeer, 35, was free to leave Suffolk Superior Court and return to her home in Everett after changing her plea and receiving a sentence of three years of probation, with the first six months on house arrest. She was also ordered to perform 100 hours of community service during each year of her probation.
Dumeer exited the courtroom with her family after the hearing while the family of Daniel J. Martinez, who had traveled from the Chicago area to detail their heart-wrenching loss for the judge, grappled with the disappointment of learning that Dumeer would spend no time in jail.
Dumeer was indicted in June 2022 on a charge of accessory to murder after the fact in connection to the killing of 23-year-old Martinez, who was stabbed to death near the Sons of Boston bar after a disagreement with bouncer Alvaro O. Larrama on March 19, 2022.
Larrama, 40, is charged with murder and has pleaded not guilty.
Martinez’s mother, Apolonia Martinez, wept as she read her victim impact statement to the court on Tuesday during Dumeer’s hearing.
Since her son’s death, her life has become “unbearable,” her days beset by depression, panic attacks, lack of appetite, and an inability to sleep, Apolonia Martinez said.
“It is a daily struggle for me to put on a happy face for coworkers and people around me, so that I don’t make them uncomfortable with all of the sadness that I carry around with me,” she said.
Martinez told Dumeer that her actions were “reprehensible” and she wanted to hate her but could not.
“I forgive you for trying to rob my family of the truth, I forgive you for trying to rob my family of closure, I forgive you for trying to rob my family of justice,” Apolonia Martinez said.
Still, Martinez said she was disappointed that Dumeer would spend no time behind bars.
“The thought of you being comfortable at home with your family as a jail sentence turns my stomach,” Apolonia Martinez said. “Your sentence will eventually end, and you’ll resume your normal life putting all this behind you. Sadly, my family does not have that option. Our family is serving a life sentence.”
Francis J. DiMento Jr., a lawyer for Dumeer, said his client’s actions that night were “absolutely horrible” but asked: “What would be the purpose of incarcerating Ms. Dumeer? Would our streets be any safer?”
Dumeer apologized to Martinez’s family for her role in “the tragedy.”
“I’m not a bad person. I have a lot to give,” Dumeer said. “I’m just very sorry. I couldn’t imagine this happening to someone in my family. I’m sad that we’re all here today. I hope they forgive me and let me live a better life. I’m sorry.”
Judge Robert L. Ullmann sought to explain his sentence to Martinez’s family, saying he believed the “consequences are severe and appropriate” for what he deemed “a stupid, momentary act.”
Ullmann said he gave “very serious thought” to not accepting Dumeer’s guilty plea without imposing some time behind bars but had some doubts that Dumeer would move forward with a guilty plea if she had to go to jail.
Ullmann said he ultimately decided that “there was a real benefit to having closure to this part of the case.”
“To me, house arrest is a serious consequence,” Ullmann said. “I think it’s the collateral consequences that are going to have the greatest effect here.”
“The other reality is she stands, for the rest of her life, convicted … she’s going to have to live with that criminal conviction.”
Daniel Martinez, who hailed from the Chicago area, was in Boston celebrating St. Patrick’s Day weekend with friends at the time of his death. Prosecutors have said Martinez exchanged words with Larrama outside the bar, asking why the girlfriend of Martinez’s friend had been ordered to leave for vaping “when there were people inside the bar who were so drunk they couldn’t stand up.”
Larrama followed Martinez and his two friends down Union Street to a line outside Hennessy’s Bar, where the bouncer confronted the Marine. Martinez responded by hitting Larrama in the head with a green aluminum beer bottle, authorities have said. The two men then struggled with each other and Larrama allegedly stabbed Martinez
twice in the chest, officials said.
As paramedics and police arrived to help Martinez, Larrama returned to the bar, where Dumeer was told what had happened, according to prosecutors.
Larrama can be seen on surveillance video removing a Sons of Boston sweat shirt in a locker room and tossing it into a trash can. Dumeer handed him a new T-shirt, which he put on before leaving the bar, according to prosecutors.
Dumeer spoke with the bar’s co-owner, Jason Kuczynski, and returned to the locker room, authorities said. On video, Dumeer can be seen looking at the camera before stepping into a blind spot.
Police later recovered the clothing, which was bloodstained.
Dumeer later told police she had learned about the stabbing through news coverage and had no information to share about it, prosecutors said at her arraignment last year.
In April 2022, the Boston Licensing Board unanimously voted to suspend the bar’s liquor license, citing what it described as lax safety protocols and management before the killing.
This April, the board granted a request to change the bar’s name to Loyal Nine.
Carolyn M. Conway, a lawyer for the business, said at the time that Loyal Nine would operate under the same ownership.
A lawyer for the Martinez family, Thomas Flaws, announced last year that they intended to file a lawsuit against Sons of Boston. That suit is moving along, Flaws said outside of court Tuesday.