Police arrest suspect in Fitchburg slaying

April 25, 2008 05:20 PM Email| Comments (0)| Text size – +

By Globe Staff

A 20-year-old Fitchburg man is facing a murder charge for allegedly shooting a .22-caliber rifle into his ex-girlfriend's living room Thursday night, killing her current boyfriend.

Andrew Jacob was ordered held without bail after pleading innocent at his arraignment today in Fitchburg District Court in the slaying of 18-year-old Gabriel Cintron, also of Fitchburg. Jacob is facing charges that include murder and resisting arrest, said Worcester district attorney's spokesman Tim Connolly.

Cintron was shot through the window as he stood in the living room of the home on Normandy Road in Fitchburg at about 10:22 p.m. Prosecutors said that Jacob had fathered a child with Cintron's girlfriend and had recently had an altercation with her.

Cintron, who was shot once in the chest, was taken to Leominster Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, Connolly said.

Police later found the .22-caliber rifle wrapped in a sweatshirt a short distance from the murder scene, Connolly said.

Christopher LoConto, Jacob’s attorney, said he was just familiarizing himself with the case, but promised a vigorous defense.

“We’ve got a long way to go and we just started,” he said. “We certainly want to see if the case is as it appears to be.”

An autopsy is under way at University of Massachusetts Medical Center in Worcester. The next hearing in the case is slated for May 29.