As they often say, don’t bring a pair of fists to a gunfight, and that was especially true in the case of a murder on Central Avenue last year according to law enforcement officials.
Luis Raul Rodriguez was shot to death after agreeing to a “fair fight” with a rival outside his Chelsea home last year, Suffolk County prosecutors said as his alleged killer’s trial opened on Monday.
Jonathan Carvalho, 22, of East Boston is charged with first-degree murder and unlawful possession of a firearm for Rodriguez’ Aug. 10, 2010, shooting death on Central Avenue.
Assistant District Attorney Amy Galatis of Suffolk DA Daniel F. Conley’s Homicide Unit told jurors that Rodriguez had just learned he was going to be a father.
“August 10, 2010, should have been one of the happiest days of Mr. Rodriguez’ life,” she said. “But instead of celebrating that new life, his own life was cruelly taken away.”
Galatis told the court that Carvalho and another man came to Rodriguez’ Central Avenue home to resolve an earlier conflict.
“Mr. Rodriguez, summoned by Mr. Carvalho, came to that fight thinking it was a fistfight, but he walked into an ambush,” Galatis said. “Mr. Rodriguez never touched Mr. Carvalho. Mr. Rodriguez never threw a punch.”
Instead of using his fists, Carvalho allegedly produced a firearm and shot him repeatedly. As Rodriguez fled back into the house, the assailant allegedly followed him and fired again.
“You’re going to hear that Mr. Carvalho made it through the front door and fired a third shot into Mr. Rodriguez’ leg,” the prosecutor said.
Prosecutors say Carvalho fled the scene, changed his clothes and hairstyle, and bought a ticket to Florida under an assumed name. He was apprehended in Savannah, Georgia, two days later.
Michael Schultz is the DA’s assigned victim-witness advocate. Attorney Willie Davis represents Carvalho. Prosecution testimony is ongoing before Judge Regina Quinlan in Boston’s Suffolk Superior Court.