South Boston man convicted of first-degree murder in 2010 shooting

A South Boston man was convicted of first-degree murder Friday for shooting and killing of 25-year-old Luis Montanez as he watched a fistfight outside of a Boston bar in 2010, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.

Jurors convicted Charlie Brea, 32, of first-degree murder and unlawful possession of a firearm Friday after two days of deliberations. Brea will be facing a mandatory term of life in prison at a sentencing hearing next week.

Assistant District Attorney Masai King proved that Brea was among a group at the Breezeway Bar and Grill in the early morning hours of Oct. 23, 2010 that was involved in a fistfight that erupted with a  different group. Montanez, of the South End, was not a combatant in the fight, and members of his group did not use or display any weapons.

Witness testimony, video footage, and other forms of evidence proved that Brea drew a .22 caliber semiautomatic handgun and fired it three times toward a group of people who were fighting. Montanez was struck in the head and later died at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

Brea fled the country to the Dominican Republic shortly after the shooting and remained there until last year, when he was apprehended and extradited to the U.S. by members of the Boston Police Department’s Fugitive Apprehension Unit and U.S. Marshals Service.

“Luis Montanez wasn’t in the wrong place at the wrong time. He went out with friends on a Friday night like anyone else. Tragically, he paid with his life for another man’s choices to carry a gun and fire it into a crowd.” Conley said in a statement. “More than seven years later, I hope Mr. Montanez’ loved ones can find some satisfaction in knowing the jury held the defendant accountable for those choices and their outcome.”