Man arraigned in Jamaica Pond slaying

December 31, 2007 12:53 PM Email| Comments (0)| Text size – +

By John C. Drake
Globe Staff

The victim of a fatal stabbing at Jamaica Pond said to his assailant, "I'll give you the money tomorrow," before he was pushed up against a van and stabbed in the chest, arm, and back, a prosecutor said at the suspect's arraignment in West Roxbury District Court yesterday.
Thirty-year-old Michael Rosado, of Hyde Park, was ordered held without bail yesterday in the Sept. 26 fatal stabbing of 31-year-old Robert Kelley Jr., also of Hyde Park, which Suffolk County prosecutor Mark Hallal said happened during a drug transaction. He has pleaded not guilty to murder. A probable-cause hearing was scheduled for Jan. 29.
A woman attending the arraignment with Rosado's family, believed to be his girlfriend, shouted as she walked out of the courtroom, "This wouldn't have happened if the dude didn't try to rob him!" Officers ordered her out of the courthouse as she continued an expletive-laden tirade, criticizing prosecutors and the media for portraying Rosado as a killer.
Rosado's mother, and relatives of Kelley who walked out of the courthouse in tears, declined to speak to a reporter. Kelley's mother, two sisters and a brother attended the arraignment.
Hallal told District Court Judge Eleanor Coe Sinnot that witnesses reported seeing Rosado and Kelley meet at benches on the Perkins Street side of Jamaica Pond just after midnight on Sept. 26 where the two soon began arguing and fighting.
After being stabbed, Kelley fled to his pickup truck. The assailant then slashed one of the truck's tires, witnesses told police. Kelley drove to an intersection before stepping out of the truck and collapsing on the sidewalk.
Rosado then went to his girlfriend's home, told her he had been stabbed in the hand, and "said he did what he had to do and was going to get a lawyer," Hallal said.
Police obtained a warrant for Rosado's arrest Sept. 30, and he was arrested without incident on Dec. 6 in Hollywood, Fla. At the time of his arrest, Rosado told officers, "How am I going to have a murder warrant when I'm the victim? I got stabbed."