BOSTON — The state’s high court has restored a first-degree murder conviction against a man accused of gunning down Jesus Flores outside a warehouse nightclub in Springfield in 2018.
Luis Gomez was found guilty of the charge after a jury trial in 2021. But the trial judge later reduced the charge to second-degree murder based, in part, on cobbled together video evidence and faulty hearsay testimony by police.
The Supreme Judicial Court in April reversed the decision rendered by Superior Court Judge Douglas H. Wilkins.
“After a thorough review of the record … and for the following reasons, we affirm the conviction of murder in the first degree, reverse the reduction of the verdict as an abuse of discretion, reinstate the jury’s verdict, and remand the matter to the Superior Court for resentencing,” the court’s order reads.
Despite Gomez’s argument that prosecutors did not present sufficient evidence to convict on the first-degree murder charge, the SJC disagreed.
“We conclude that the evidence was sufficient to permit a rational jury to find, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the defendant was the shooter,” justices wrote.
Flores was acting as a doorman outside the party spot on Waltham Avenue, where his cousin was hosting a birthday celebration. Part of his duties included pat-frisking partygoers for weapons, according to court records. Gomez was a patron, by all accounts.
A fight broke out inside the club and Gomez hustled away to a white van nearby to retrieve a gun, court records say.
“The nightclub’s exterior surveillance camera recorded the defendant outside the club. He stood next to his taller companion at the front entrance. Holding a handgun in his right hand, he ‘racked’ the slide to chamber a round of ammunition. He had been yelling at the victim, who was positioned at the door blocking entry into the club,” the SJC’s decision reads.
Flores raised his hands in a conciliatory fashion, and Gomez fired at him.
Flores staggered away, and was later found on a nearby sidewalk bleeding from gunshot wounds to his abdomen and knee. He died ten days later, and Gomez was arrested about two months later with help from surveillance footage and witness statements, court records say.
Gomez was identified by a sweatshirt and a ball cap.
Those witness statements about the attire the defendant was wearing were slightly muddled, as many men in the club were wearing a sweatshirt and a sports ball cap with a sticker fixed to it, according to the court record.
The SJC still found the evidence sufficient for the first-degree conviction.
Gomez’s lawyer has filed a timely motion for reconsideration with the court.
Hampden District Attorney Anthony D. Gulluni said he is grateful for the court’s decision.
“We are grateful to the Supreme Judicial Court for reaffirming the jury’s decision and recognizing the gravity of this defendant’s actions,” he said.
Gomez will be sentenced to life without parole. Resentencing will be scheduled at a later date.
