LAWRENCE, MASS. (WHDH) - A Lawrence man has been sentenced to life in prison for fatally shooting a former United States Marine back in 2019.
A jury found Remy Salazar, 27, guilty of second-degree murder, unlawful possession of a firearm, and discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a dwelling on Nov. 9 following a six-day trial in Lawrence Superior Court, according to the Essex District Attorney’s office.
Judge Sal Tabit sentenced Salazar on Wednesday to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 25 years.
Salazer shot former Marine Kelvin Frias on March 15, 2019, as he stood outside the Hookah Store on Broadway in Methuen, Essex Assistant District Attorney Kate MacDougall said.
Salazar had attended an after-hours party at the store when he became angry with the store’s owner for requesting payment for the alcohol served at the party, MacDougall argued.
Frias, who was a friend and bodyguard of the store owner, allegedly tried to diffuse the situation and asked Salazar to leave.
Salazar left and returned about 30 minutes later, shouted at the store owner and fired six rounds toward a group of people, striking Frias in the head, MacDougall said.
Frias died the next morning at a Boston hospital.
“My thoughts are with the family and friends of Kelvin Frias, particularly his 9-year old daughter. While there is nothing we can do to restore their tremendous loss, it is my hope that they can now find some peace,” Essex District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett said. “Mr. Frias was a United States Marine Corps veteran who served his country with honor for four years of active duty. His senseless murder diminishes all of us.”
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