Thursday, 4:30 PM
Mother screams at suspect after acquittal
By John R. Ellement, Globe Staff
After a 19-year-old Boston man was acquitted of first-degree murder today, the victim's mother screamed at the defendant as jurors were leaving the Suffolk Superior courtroom.
"How can you live with yourself!" Bronwen Wilson shouted before being led out of the courtroom by her husband. "He killed my baby! This isn'' justice. This isn't justice."
Wilson, who began weeping outside the courtroom, was screaming at Etanis Cumba, who was accused of fatally stabbing her son, Joseph A. Wilson Jr., 20, during a party on Huntington Avenue in October 2005.
Just before noon, the jury voted to acquit Cumba of murder and assault with a dangerous weapon. He faced life in prison without the possibility of parole if he had been convicted.
During the trial, prosecutors said Cumba donned a mask, went to the party and confronted the victim and another man, before stabbing Wilson to death.
Defense attorney Rosemary Scapicchio argued that the wrong man was on trial and accused Boston police of conducting a shoddy investigation.
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When the jury announced its decision to acquit, a dozen of Cumba’s friends and relatives inside the courtroom quietly exhaled in relief. On Wilson's side, friends and relatives wept with frustration.
At least one juror was crying as the panel was led out of the courtroom.
