By Gintautas Dumcius
Reporter Correspondent

A Dorchester man, originally from Guatemala, was charged this week with fatally stabbing a Quincy man visiting his friends on an early Wednesday morning in November.

Suffolk County prosecutors accused Emiliano Galicia, 42, with the first-degree murder of Ruben Najera on Najera's 28th birthday on Nov. 21 at a Geneva Avenue rooming house.

Dorchester District Court Judge James Coffey ordered Galicia be held without bail "without prejudice." Galicia is due back in court on Jan. 11 for a probable cause hearing.

John Hayes, the court-appointed attorney for Galicia, said Galicia was acting in self-defense and had cooperated with police. A not guilty plea was entered on his bealf.

Hayes, an attorney with the Committee for Public Counsel Services, also criticized the case brought before the court. Hayes accused prosecutors of "playing cute" and "abusing the process" by not fully revealing the extent of the evidence and the charges.

"This case has some real issues," he said.

Jake Wark, spokesman for Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel Conley, said the investigation is ongoing.

"This investigation remains very active at this stage and investigators are gathering evidence even at this moment," he said. "This office will, as it has always done, provide defense counsel with complete discovery in accordance with the Massachusetts rules of evidence."

Assistant District Attorney Rahsaan Hall said witnesses would be going before a grand jury shortly. Wark declined to comment on the grand jury.

Hall said Galicia was a "flight risk" because he was in the U.S. illegally.

Hall said Galicia allegedly stabbed Najera twice after Najera had been eating and drinking with a friend in the rooming house. Boston police officers noticed Najera walk past them with a stab wound in his chest later that night, with a blood trail that led back to 519 Geneva Ave.

Najera was taken to Boston Medical Center and later died.

Witnesses told police they had observed a fight between Najera and Galicia, who also lived in the rooming house. Police noticed bloodstains on the mattress and a bloody shirt with a knife inside, according to Hall.

Galicia was at the house on Monday and agreed to give homicide detectives an interview, Hall said. Galicia told them that the victim was disrespecting him, there was a struggle with the victim attacking with the knife and managing to stab himself, Hall added.

Galicia then said he blacked out and later fled the scene. Hall said this contradicted several witnesses, who said there was no struggle.

Hayes said Galicia has no record here or in Guatemala and stressed that Galicia was acting in self-defense.

Lynn man held on $20,000 for alleged home invasion

A Lynn man was ordered held on $20,000 bail this week over charges of threats to commit a crime, possessing a gun and home invasion. Judge Kenneth Desmond Jr. set the bail on Monday and ordered Edwin Ortiz, 29, to return to court on Jan. 4 and stay away from the Wrentham Street address.

Hung Tran, the court-appointed attorney for Ortiz, said the defendant disputed the charges. An attorney from the Committee for Public Counsel Services will be appointed at a later date.

The charges stem from a Dec. 8 incident, when Boston police responded to a 4:15 a.m. call from a female victim saying her ex-boyfriend had called her at work several times, saying that he was inside her home, he had a gun and he was going to shoot her.

Police arrived at the home and saw Ortiz leaving through the outer front door. When police said they wanted to speak with them, he allegedly responded by running back into the home and slamming the door shut.

Officers then called in for assistance through a K-9 unit and a Spanish-speaking policeman. Ortiz was told to keep his hands up as they negotiated with him to surrender.

Police later were able to get into the apartment using the victim's keys. They searched the place and found a gun in the toilet.

Traffic stop reveals cache of ammunition, drugs

Officers on random patrol Monday night stopped three individuals in a car on Howe Street, finding marijuana and several rounds of ammunition.

The owner of the silver Toyota Camry, Shandrick Johnson, 26, of Roxbury, was arraigned this week on unlawful possession of the ammunition. Johnson posted $240 bail later Monday night, and was let go on the same bail on Tuesday morning. He was ordered to appear in court on Feb. 4.

During the traffic stop, officers smelled marijuana coming from the car. Asked if there was any in the car, the driver said, "No, I just bought a blunt," according to the police report. While being frisked, he allegedly added, "I have a small bag of weed in my jacket pocket."

Johnson was the front seat passenger and when asked, gave officers the key to the safe in back of the car.

Officers found an empty firearm box for a Bersa Thunder .380 caliber gun, along with 17 .45 caliber rounds of Winchester full metal jacket ammunition, 15 rounds of .45 caliber of Magtech guardian gold series ammunition, 10 .45 caliber rounds of PMC Eldorado Starfire ammunition, 2 .380 caliber rounds of Winchester ammunition and 1 .45 caliber round of RP auto ammunition, according to the police report.

Asked where the weapon was, Johnson allegedly told officers, "It was stolen. I made a report with Boston Police."

Officers later discovered there was never a stolen gun report filed, and that the Bersa Thunder .380 was stolen out of West Sacramento, California.

The vehicle was towed.

Dorchester man gets 15 to 17 years
for armed robbery and police standoff

A 40-year-old Dorchester man was convicted last Friday of armed robbery and a host of other charges, receiving a sentence of 15 to 17 years in state prison. The sentence, ordered by Superior Court Judge Elizabeth Donovan, carries five years of probation upon release for Darrel Smith, who attempted to rob a 42-year-old and got involved in a May 2006 standoff with police outside his Wales St. home, according to Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel Conley.

He was also convicted of unlawful possession of ammunition, unlawfully carrying a loaded firearm, unlawful possession of a large-capacity feeding device, and being a Level III armed career criminal.

Prosecutors said on May 7, 2006, Smith and two female friends approached the victim, with Smith pointing a gun at the victim's chest, demanding the victim's gold chain.

Police were notified of the robbery, coming to Smith's Wales Street apartment. One of Smith's female friends told officers at the door Smith had a gun in a black sock.

Two hours of negotiation gave way to pepper spray getting fired into the apartment.

Police recovered a Ruger P89 semiautomatic 9mm handgun with 15 rounds of ammunition.

Prosecutors pointed to Smith's four-page criminal record, containing convictions for armed robbery, gun possession, drug offenses, assault and battery, among other crimes.

Gintautas Dumcius covers court proceedings and law enforcement for the Reporter. He can be reached at gin.dumcius@gmail.com

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