Murdered Massachusetts police officer Michael Chesna's family shares years of heartbreak as killer apologizes
DEDHAM – Emanuel Lopes, the man convicted of killing Weymouth Police Sgt. Michael Chesna and innocent bystander Vera Adams in 2018, apologized on Wednesday as he was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole.
Adams' and Chesna's family members along with Weymouth police officers gave emotional victim impact statements in court before Lopes was sentenced. The hearing was held inside Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham.
"I just want to say I'm sorry to Sgt. Michael Chesna's family. I'm sorry to the Weymouth Police Department. I'm sorry to Vera Adams' family. I'm so sorry. It should have never happened," Lopes said.
Emanuel Lopes sentenced
Judge Beverly Cannone's decision will make Lopes eligible for parole in 40 years when he is 60 years old.
Prosecutor Greg Connor had asked Cannone for parole eligibility in 30 years on one charge and the possibility of parole in 25 years on the other.
Under the state's recommendation, Lopes would not have been eligible for parole until he was 75 years old. The defense had asked for Lopes to be eligible for parole after 40 years.
Lopes' attorney said his client was not making excuses, but "it's the circumstances of his mental illness we ask the court to consider."
He also argued that Lopes' age and lifelong cannabis use were other reasons he should not get consecutive sentences and should instead get a meaningful opportunity for parole.
What was Emanuel Lopes convicted of?
A jury found Lopes guilty in February of first- and second-degree murder.
Lopes fled the scene of a minor car crash near South Shore Hospital on July 15, 2018. Chesna found Lopes throwing rocks at a home near the scene of the crash and confronted him.
Police said Lopes threw a rock the size of half a basketball at Chesna's head, then shot the officer several times with his own gun.
Lopes also shot and killed Adams, 77, while she was standing by her window watching him run away.
Sgt. Chesna's wife calls Emanuel Lopes "coward" and "monster"
Cindy Chesna, Michael's wife, recalled how "in the blink of an eye" her husband was taken from her.
She described Lopes as a "coward" and "monster."
"I will never understand such evil," she said.
Sgt. Chesna's widow recalled lying with her husband's body at the hospital after he was killed.
"We had vowed to each other in sickness and in health, and until death do us part. That day when we were parted by death, I made one more vow. That we would get him justice," Cindy Chesna said.
Statements from Sgt. Michael Chesna's children
Cindy Chesna delivered emotional victim impact statements on behalf of the slain officer's children.
"He took away something I love. I wish my dad was still here," Sgt. Chesna's young son wrote in his statement.
Sgt. Chesna's 15-year-old daughter said the day Lopes killed her father was "the worst day of my life."
"He was and always will be my hero," she wrote.
"The monster I warned my kids about"
Michael Chesna's mother, Maryann Chesna, urged the judge to issue the maximum sentence for Lopes.
"The danger he poses to the community is immense. Accountability matters not just for Michael and Vera, who are now tied together by this horrible crime, but for all of us," she said.
The veteran police officer's mother ended her statement by directly addressing Lopes.
"Mr. Lopes, you're the monster I warned my kids about," Maryann Chesna said.
Vera Adams' family issues statement
A lawyer read a statement on behalf of Vera Adams's family.
They described her as a warm and loving woman who welcomed anyone into her home.
"We hope the sentence you provide today will never allow Emanuel Lopes to walk to streets again," the family said.
Shooting "forever engrained" in witness' mind
Weymouth police officer Nicholas Guarino responded to the scene the morning Chesna and Adams were killed.
"There isn't a day that goes by that I don't think of what I witnessed on the morning of July 15, 2018. The image of the defendant standing over Mike shooting him repeatedly is forever engrained in my mind," Guarino said. "The flashbacks I experience daily of this is something that no one should have to endure. These horrific memories have consumed me and continue to haunt my dreams even six years later."
Guarina said he feels guilty, wondering what he could have done if he arrived moments earlier.
"I hope he lives the rest of his life in pain knowing that he took the life of a police officer who was simply doing his job and the life of an innocent elderly woman who was frightened by the sound of gunfire in her quiet little neighborhood on a Sunday morning," Guarino said.
Weymouth police officers attend Emanuel Lopes sentencing
The large courtroom was filled completely for the hearing.
Members of Chesna's family filled the benches on one side. Dozens of police officers in uniform were seated on the other side of the courtroom.
Mistrial in first case
Lopes was convicted after facing trial for a second time in the case. Jurors deliberated for two weeks in 2023 but could not reach a unanimous verdict. Judge Cannone, who is also overseeing the Karen Read trial, declared a mistrial due to the hung jury.
Jurors were selected from Bristol County in the second trial, and Lopes was found guilty.
During the first trial, jurors struggled to determine if Lopes was a murderer or suffering from mental illness.