DEDHAM, MASS. (WHDH) - A judge sentenced Emanuel Lopes to life in prison Wednesday after he was found guilty of murder in the 2018 killing of a Weymouth police sergeant and a 77-year-old bystander.
Six years after the murders and one year after Lopes’ first trial ended in a mistrial, police sergeant Michael Chesna’s mother had choice words while delivering victim impact statements.
“My son sacrificed everything because he believed in public service. I hope there will be justice after all these years,” said Mimi Chesna.
“Mr. Lopes, you’re the monster I warned my kids about,” she continued.
Lopes was 20-years-old when prosecutors said he threw a rock at Michael Chesna’s head, grabbed his gun, and shot him eight times. Prosecutors said Lopes had been involved in a crash and fled the scene before he encountered Chesna.
As he continued to flee and tried to shoot at other officers, prosecutors said Lopes also shot bystander Vera Adams while she stood in her nearby sunroom.
Chesna, a US Army veteran, earned a Purple Heart before serving as a Weymouth police officer for six years. He left behind his wife and two kids.
Police officers started filing into the courtroom for Lopes’ sentencing near 9:30 a.m. Wednesday in a show of support for Chesna. Loved ones soon followed and the sentencing hearing got underway near 10:15 a.m.
In victim impact statements, officers who responded to the scene where Chesna was shot described their experiences and recalled the sight of Lopes standing over Chesna’s bloodied body.
Adams’ loved ones spoke next, describing her as a loving family member and a great friend with a warm smile.
Family members also said they were glad to know their six-year experience navigating the legal system would soon be over.
“Vera Adams had the essence of beauty, grace and class,” said relative Ryan Terry.
Mimi Chesna, said her son had an “unyielding commitment to serving his community as a police officer.”
“Every day, I wake up and my son Michael is still gone,” Mimi said. “His murder has consumed my heart, my thoughts, my breathing.”
Mimi thanked community members for standing by her and said she remembers the care Michael had for those close to him.
“I hold him close by remembering all of the love he gave in his life before it was cut short,” she said.
Michael Chesna’s widow, Cindy, spoke after Mimi, first reading statements from her two children. She then described the day Michael died and the struggles her family has faced in the years since.
“The devastation inflicted on my children by the defendant is beyond what I could fully articulate,” she said.
Cindy said her husband was funny and kind-hearted. She said Michael was someone who loved his family above all else.
In calling for the maximum sentence for Lopes, she further highlighted the scars the shooting left on her family.
“My children did not deserve to have their childhoods marred by trauma,” Cindy said. “…They should not have to carry this burden or live with these fears.”
Cindy said she “cannot give my children their father back.” But she said she can give them the comfort of knowing Lopes will not walk free any time soon.
“He is nothing, nothing except living proof that evil does exist,” Cindy said.
Lopes’ first trial began in June of last year but ended without a verdict after jurors said they remained deadlocked.
Jury foreperson Cindy Lavoie spoke to 7NEWS after the mistrial, saying the panel was evenly split as deliberations got underway. Within a few days, she said all jurors agreed on a guilty verdict, except one.
Lavoie said the holdout juror agreed with the defense team’s theory that Lopes was in the midst of a psychotic episode when he killed Chesna and Adams, making him not legally responsible for the murders.
The Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office said it would retry Lopes after the mistrial. Come January, parties were back in court as the new trial got underway.
The second trial went to the jury in early February and, after six days of deliberations, jurors delivered their guilty verdict to the sound of cheers from Chesna and Adams’ loved ones.
The prosecution in Lopes’ case on Wednesday asked that Lopes receive consecutive life sentences that would keep him ineligible for parole until he is 75-years-old.
The defense argued for a lesser sentence, asking Judge Beverly Cannone to consider Lopes’ age when the crime took place and his mental state as she made her decision.
Cannone ultimately sentenced Lopes to life in prison with the opportunity for parole after 30 years for Chesna’s murder and life in prison with the chance for parole after 10 years for Adams’ murder.
The sentences will run consecutively, making Lopes eligible for parole when he is 60-years-old.
Now 26, Lopes spoke moments before Cannone announced his sentence and apologized to both the Chesna and Adams families.
“I’m so sorry,” Lopes said. “This should have never happened.”
Following his sentencing, Lopes will move from the Norfolk County House of Corrections to Massachusetts’ maximum security prison in Shirley.
Asked outside Norfolk Superior Court for her reaction to Lopes’ apology, Mimi Chesna responded.
”It was a day late and a dollar short,” she said.
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