One of two people believed to have gunned down a Lawrence, Massachusetts, high school basketball player in 2017 was arrested Thursday in Worcester on a murder charge, prosecutors said.
Robert Severino, now 24, is accused of killing Juan Espinal on March 8, 2017, the Essex County District Attorney's Office said. He pleaded not guilty in Lawrence District Court and was ordered held without bail.
Espinal was 18 years old when he was fatally shot near the intersection of Forest and Crescent streets in Lawrence about 1:45 a.m., authorities have said.
At the time, family and friends described him as humble, going to school and working a couple of jobs. One neighbor reported hearing seven or eight gunshots.
The arrest of Severino, who was 17 at the time of the shooting, involved the work of police in Lawrence and Worcester, as well as the Massachusetts State Police Violent Fugitives Apprehension Section, prosecutors said. They didn't share more about how he was linked to Espinal's killing, or if a second suspect has been identified.
Severino is due back in court on Nov. 18 for a probable cause hearing.
