Prosecutors: Sierra killed Jeremiah Oliver after boy told him not to hurt his mother
WORCESTER – It appeared as if Alberto L. Sierra Jr., a man charged in the decade-old case of the murder of a 5-year-old boy, lost strength in his knees on Friday while his defense attorney requested the Worcester Superior Court for a bail posting for the 32-year-old from Fitchburg.
Sierra was arraigned last week facing charges in the killing of Jeremiah Oliver, his girlfriend’s son, whose body was discovered in a tool bag in April 2014 off Interstate 190 in Sterling, months after the last sighting of the boy in September 2013 in Fitchburg.
On Friday, Superior Court Judge Karin M. Bell declined the request posed by defense attorney Marissa Leigh Elkins, who argued that Sierra would benefit from release on probation and a GPS tracker, as the 32-year-old needs close care for medical issues relating to rheumatoid arthritis.
Sierra will be held without bail. He is due to appear in court June 28 for a pretrial conference.
Using a testimony of the boy’s mother, Elsa Oliver, prosecutors alleged at the hearing on Friday that the child died in September 2013 after Sierra “took the child by the head and slammed it to the floor” after the 5-year-old had run up to the man, scolding him for arguing with his mother.
The prosecutor in the case, Assistant District Attorney Courtney Lynn Sans, said that in the moments before the alleged killing, the boy had approached Sierra saying, “Don’t hurt my mommy.”
It’s alleged that Sierra often physically and verbally abused the boy’s mother; on the day of the alleged killing, Sierra had allegedly headbutted the mother.
Sierra, his girlfriend and her three children aged 9, 7 and 5 – the latter being the victim – lived together in an apartment at 276 Kimball St. in Fitchburg.
Body stuffed in tool bag
Realizing the boy’s immediate death, the couple allegedly stuffed the body in a tool bag that allegedly belonged to Sierra, a mechanic by trade who was often seen by family members using the bag to carry tools for work.
They allegedly later dug a hole in the area in which they had hidden the body. Prosecutors allege this was the first of many attempts to do so, finally deciding on a spot by Interstate 190 in Sterling.
The boy was last seen by relatives on Sept. 14, 2013, but it wasn’t until December that authorities became involved, after the boy’s sister told school officials about the boy’s disappearance.
At the time, Fitchburg and state police combed the neighborhood often with tracking dogs, while the community also joined the search efforts spreading flyers with the boy’s image.
The 5-year-old's body was finally discovered on April 18, 2014, by Interstate 190 in Sterling. Days later, Sierra and the boy’s mother were arrested.
In 2017, the couple were sentenced to jail for charges of child abuse, kidnapping and endangerment of a child among others.
Because it wasn’t until February 2016 that authorities deemed the case a homicide, it wasn’t until May 17 of this year that authorities pressed a murder charge – one count against Sierra.
After the discovery of the body, three state Department of Child & Family Services workers were disciplined, including a state employee and their supervisor who were fired for failing to conduct home checks on the boy.
In addition to a murder charge, Sierra also faces disinterment of the body. If guilty, the charges could possibly place him in prison for life without parole if guilty.
On May 18, he pleaded not guilty.
This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Bail denied for Fitchburg man charged in murder of 5-year-old Jeremiah Oliver
