Lawrence mother, teens remembered fondly

By Peter Schworm and John M. Guilfoil , Globe Staff

LAWRENCE – A mother and her two teenage children were shot and killed in their apartment early this morning, and the mother’s boyfriend was arrested for the slaying.

Milka Rivera, 39, and her son, Maxariel Montanez, 16, and daughter Sachary Montanez, 19, were found dead inside a bedroom at the housing project at 15 Maginnis Ave. shortly. Jose Luis Tejeda, 40, the boyfriend of Milka Rivera, was taken into custody for the murders and will be arraigned tomorrow in Lawrence District Court, authorities said.

Around 2 a.m., police received a call from a man who had encountered Tejeda outside the apartment, Essex District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett said at a news conference this morning. Tejeda allegedly told the man, “I may have committed a crime,” Blodgett said.

The witness said Tejeda appeared nervous and agitated.

When police arrived at the apartment, they found the doors locked but the upstairs light on. All three bodies were found in the son’s bedroom.

Police located a gun near the home and are testing it for ballistics.

Tejeda lived in the same Maginnis Avenue apartment complex where the murders took place, and authorities believe he had a five or six year relationship with Rivera. He was not the father of her children.

Tejeda has no criminal record, and there were no previous incidents at that address.

Neighbors said today that Tejeda was known as a heavy drinker and was prone to anger.

But Cano Figueroa, 17, a nephew of Rivera’s, said he had visited his cousins many times and never saw that side of Tejeda.

“They got along perfectly,” Figueroa said.

Maxariel Montanez, Rivera’s son, was a sophomore at the Greater Lawrence Technical School in Andover. He was a “big guy” and was a defensive lineman on the football team, Figueroa said. He was supposed to start school Tuesday.

Figueroa said that Max has struggled in school before he found football. But his grades improved once he joined the team and found some structure. “He turned his life around,” Figueroa said today. “[His teammates] were like a family.”

School administrators gathered at the high school this afternoon. They have not yet released a statement.

Figueroa described Max’s sister, Sachary, as “very smart,” a girl who worked hard to graduate from high school. She was studying business at Hesser College in New Hampshire, Figueroa said.

Rivera worked at the Greater Lawrence Family Health Center, as a receptionist.

Yajaira Alvarado, 30, a former co-worker, said that Rivera “was all about the kids” at the center.

Alvarado said she had met the suspect several times. Rivera, she said, brought him to the last two Christmas parties at work.

“She seemed happier than ever,” Alvarado recalled.

At least 200 people gathered around the crime scene building this afternoon. Several relatives stood arm-in-arm, consoling each other through tears.

Rafael Torres, 51, one of Rivera’s cousins, said that they grew up together in Puerto Rico and that Rivera came to Lawrence when she was young.

The housing complex is made up of thickly-grouped two-story buildings surrounded by trees.

Mary Lavertue, who has lived in the complex for 47 years, described it as a safe, family-oriented place. Like many she expressed horror at what had happened “Three people’s lives snuffed out like they were nothing,” she said. “It’s so unfair.”