Thursday, 4:30 PM
Chef pleads not guilty in fatal Westin stabbing
By Maria Cramer, Globe Staff, Andrew Ryan, Globe Correspondent
A chef at a restaurant in the Westin Copley Place hotel pleaded not guilty to a murder charge this morning after prosecutors and police said he stabbed a bartender Friday night during an argument at work.
The chef, Ivan Sosa, 37, appeared in Boston Municipal Court this morning in a white jumpsuit. He kept his head bowed and said little during the brief proceeding as his mother and sister looked on. A judge ordered the Dorchester man held without bail until his next court appearance scheduled for Oct. 17.
More than 50 friends and relatives of the victim, Carlos E. Borrero, Jr., 30, packed the courtroom. Borrero’s mother and wife were overcome by grief during and had to be carried outside.
According to police and prosecutors, Sosa and Borrero got into an argument early Friday night at Turner Fisheries, the hotel's popular seafood restaurant. The pair tussled in an employee-only area and then police say Sosa grabbed a knife. He is charged with stabbing Borrero four times, including once in the chest, which punctured his lung and heart.
Police responded to a report of a stabbing at 4:27 p.m. at the Back Bay hotel and found a Borrero bleeding from a knife wound.
Borrero lived in Chelsea and worked his way up at the pricey restaurant, going from busboy to waiter and finally bartender.
