Missael Pena Canela pleads not guilty to murder of Salem State basketball player Carl-Hens Beliard
SALEM - Missael Pena Canela, the 18-year-old charged in the shooting death of Salem State basketball player Carl-Hens Beliard, pleaded not guilty Thursday as new details in the case were revealed.
Canela was arraigned on a murder charge in Salem District Court and was ordered held without bail. He was arrested Wednesday, several hours after Beliard was found wounded in his crashed car on Forest Avenue in Salem, not far from campus. He was rushed to a hospital where he died.
At the arraignment Thursday, prosecutor Erin Bellavia said a woman was in the car with Beliard when he was shot. The prosecutor said the woman had an "on again, off again" relationship with Canela. Bellavia told the court Canella later admitted he was looking for the woman and fired at the car as it drove away from him.
Canela's defense attorney Debra Dewitt questioned the prosecution's claim that he confessed to police, saying she only got the police report on Thursday.
"It's news to me that he allegedly stated he committed the murder," said Dewitt. "I'm saying at this point in time, my client is innocent. I think there's a lot of information that we need to know."
Police would not say if Canela was also a student at the university. He lives in Salem.
Beliard was a freshman on a full scholarship at Salem State and was just a week away from playing in his first college game.
A vigil will be held in his memory at 7 p.m. Thursday on campus in Twohig Gymnasium.
Beliard graduated from Worcester North High School earlier this year and was a forward on their state championship team. His mother, Altagrace Beliard, was planning to see him for his 19th birthday on November 11.
"He loved basketball so much. He loved his brother. He was a happy kid," she told WBZ-TV. "He was really happy. He was really happy with the school. He was doing well."
Canela is due back in court December 1.