Teen Held Without Bail In Murder Of East Boston Woman
EAST BOSTON (CBS) -- A teen charged in the murder of a woman in an East Boston garage last month was ordered held without bail Monday.
Jose Hernandez, 15, was arrested Sunday and charged with first-degree murder.
Hernandez remained out of sight of cameras during his arraignment in East Boston District Court late Monday morning.
Police say Hernandez stabbed and beat Blanca Lainez just days before her 19th birthday. Her body was found by workers in a garage on Princeton Street on July 15.
Workers arriving at the garage to make renovations found her body on a pile of construction materials.
Prosecutors said Hernandez and Lainez had been in contact over social media, where an argument took place between them.
The Suffolk District Attorney's office said they analyzed Lainez's cell phone and found that the two had "extensive" contact, and that Hernandez had threatened Lainez via voicemail in the weeks before her death.
On Tuesday, June 14, Blanca Lainez was seen on surveillance video around 8:15 p.m. in the area where her body was found.
Prosecutors say that's when cell phone activity from Lainez's phone stopped.
A man wearing dark clothing and a hood was also seen on the footage in that area at the same time. Prosecutors said that man was seen in the footage running from the scene while putting something in his pocket around 45 minutes later.
Police said they were able to arrest Hernandez by using phone records, video surveillance, and forensic evidence.
Asst. DA John Verner says fingerprint of Jose Hernandez found where Blanca Lainez body found. #wbz
— Doug Cope (@dcopewbz) July 11, 2016
Police said that, when Hernandez was taken into custody on an unrelated charge on June 30, they were able to match a bloody fingerprint found near Lainez's body to him.
They said he had a knife when he was arrested in that separate incident.
"I can honestly tell you this one really troubled us, when a young 19-year-old girl is found abandoned in a garage like she was," Boston Police Commissioner Bill Evans said Sunday. "I can honestly tell you we we worked very hard over the last several weeks to get who was responsible."
Hernandez's attorney said the young defendant is "holding up well."
"When I say holding up, I don't mean to say that he's being cavalier, or doesn't accept the serious nature of the charges and the potential sentence that he faces," said defense attorney James Coviello. "But under all the circumstances, given his age, given his inexperience, I think he's holding up well."
Following the arraignment, neighborhood activist Antonio Arevall praised the police work.
"There's a lot of agencies that worked really hard to see East Boston shine the way it should," he said. "It's unfortunate for the family and for the youth that this kid just threw his life away, and I hope that if there's any other accomplices, that there's justice in this whole matter."
Under Massachusetts law, all juveniles over 14 who are charged with murder are tried as adults.
Hernandez is due back in court August 20.
WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Doug Cope reports