Alleged shooter in New Bedford homicide held without bail following arraignment

NEW BEDFORD - The alleged shooter in an early Monday morning homicide in the area of Tallman and North Front streets was ordered held without bail after arraignment Friday in New Bedford District Court.

Xavier Luis Rodriguez, 20, of New Bedford, is charged with murder and carrying an illegal firearm.

Prosecutors say he was one of four passengers in a Honda Civic, which included a 16-year boy, involved in the shooting.

They say Rodriguez shot and killed 20-year-old Lorenzo Gomes from the rear driver's side passenger window.Gomes had been driving a white Acura.

Two other passengers in the Civic have been charged with accessory to murder-after the fact and are being held without bail.

Those defendants are Wyllie Monteiro, 25, of New Bedford, who was arrested Thursday morning in Dartmouth; and Sterling Robinson, 24, of New Bedford, who was arrested in Fall River on Monday evening.

Assistant Bristol County District Attorney Jason Mohan said police responded to a shotspotter alert at 11:57 p.m. Sunday in the area of Tallman Street and North Front Street.

Police found several spent shell casings as well as a vehicle parked at the side of the road that had been struck by bullets. There was no one at the scene, which appeared directly below a city camera, Mohan said.

Police were analyzing the video when a 911 call came in from a friend of Gomes who said he had been talking with him on the phone when he heard gunshots. Gomes indicated he was hit and then was unresponsive.

The caller gave police Gomes' cell phone number and they pinged it and located the car at the intersection of Tallman Street and Belleville Avenue, a short distance away from the scene of the shooting.

Gomes was inside with obvious bullet wounds. He was brought to the hospital and pronounced dead at 12:40 a.m.

They also found a loaded high-capacity firearm on Gomes' lap that didn't appear to have been fired.

Based on the video from the scene, police identified a Honda Civic involved in the shooting with Gomes' white Acura, Mohan said.

Police also checked with probation if anyone was wearing a GPS tracking device in the area of the shooting, which led to Sterling Robinson, Mohan said. He was on probation.

Mohan said Robinson's locations that night matched surveillance video of the Honda Civic in various locations, including at the shooting scene.

A timeline of events leading up to the shooting

Police developed a timeline, he said.

The Honda Civic was at a Taco Bell near the shooting scene from 11 to 11:52 p.m. that night.

Based on Taco Bell surveillance video, a person known to police as Wyllie Monteiro was driving the Honda Civic, and Sterling Robinson was in the front-seat passenger, Mohan said.

There was a 16-year-old minor male in the back seat, and seated on the rear driver's side was Rodriguez, Mohan said.

Rodriguez was wearing a mask while he was at the Taco Bell. At one point he pulled the mask down, which was caught on the surveillance camera, when he began to eat his food, Mohan said.

The Honda Civic left the Taco Bell at 11:52 p.m.

At 11:56 p.m. the Honda Civic passed the Acura on Ashley Boulevard.

One minute later they passed each other again on Acushnet Avenue where the Honda made a U-turn and then began to follow the Acura toward the intersection of Tallman and North Front streets.

Forty-five seconds after the U-turn, Gomes stopped his Acura at the stop sign at the intersection of Tallman Street and North Front Street, Mohan said.

While Gomes was stopped, the Honda Civic pulled to the right of the white Acura. The rear driver's side window lowered and a gunshot was observed to be fired from the rear driver's side into the Acura.

"And that's captured by the city camera," Mohan added.

The Honda then proceeded in front of the Acura and several additional gunshots were fired into the front windshield of the Acura, he said.

Gomes was struck twice, once in the front and once in his side.

The Honda Civic then sped away and city cameras were able to catch it as it traveled through New Bedford, ultimately arriving at the Brickenwood Housing development at 12:02 a.m., Mohan said.

Cameras at the housing development showed four men exiting the vehicle, postioned in the same seats as they had been observed at the Taco Bell and from the city camera over the shooting, Mohan said.

A warrant was issued for Rodriguez' arrest Thursday and he turned himself in Thursday night.

Rodriguez' attorney, James Murphy, asked for $25,000 bail.

He said the police accessed the GPS information that led to Sterling Robinson without probable cause. He said their actions were unconsitutional and would never withstand any sort of judicial review.

He also said the quality of surveillance video, especially city cameras, is poor and insufficient to make identifications.

Murphy added that Rodriguez was a high school graduate, with no criminal record, and lived with his grandmother.

Murphy added to Judge Robert Ovoian of the prosecution's case, "They're guessing and they're asking you to guess along with them."

Ovoian said, "Respectfully, I disagree with you on the strength of the facts the Commonwealth has alleged here and I do find there is probable cause." He ordered Rodriguez held without bail.

A probable cause hearing is scheduled for Aug. 2.

This article originally appeared on Standard-Times: Alleged shooter Xavier Luis Rodriguez in Monday homicide held, no bail