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911 caller described Lynn beating victim as ’Guatemalan’

E-mail|Link|Comments () September 15, 2009 01:18 PM

By Maria Sacchetti, Globe Staff

The 911 caller who reported the July 22 savage beating of a Lynn immigrant told authorities that a "Guatemalan" had been attacked, according to a copy of the recording requested by the Globe.

The call raised questions about how the caller knew nationality of the victim, Damian Merida, and why it was used to describe him to authorities as he lay bleeding and badly injured on the grassy field behind a public high school. Lynn police have charged six boys, ages 11 to 14 at the time, with attacking the 30-year-old landscaper with bricks, bottles, sticks, and rocks because of his ethnicity. The boys are facing multiple charges, including armed assault with intent to murder, and a civil rights violation.

The boys have pleaded not guilty.

Merida

Some community members were skeptical that Merida was targeted because of his ethnicity. Crime is widespread and the city is diverse, they said, so racial or ethnic violence is rare. But police said they believe he was targeted because he is Latino, and the crime has been condemned by the Anti-Defamation League and the Latino Professional Network.

Merida suffered major head and bodily injuries and permanent brain damage, friends and relatives said. He is at Tewksbury Hospital undergoing what is expected to be a years-long rehabilitation, but his family is trying to move him closer to Salem.

In the 911 tape, an unidentified caller described the scene in a park behind Lynn Vocational Technical Institute on Neptune Boulevard. The caller said a man was lying on the ground bleeding. It was 2:49 p.m. on a Wednesday, in the middle of summer.

"I found a Guatemalan that got beat up," the caller said.

"You found a Guatemalan that got beat up?" the operator responded. "Does he need, um, an ambulance?"

"I believe so," the caller said. "He's bleeding from the back of his head and like it looks like on his ear."

The operator patched the caller through to the Fire Department for an ambulance.

The caller told the second operator that Merida was lying near the skate park. That operator asked if Merida was conscious or bleeding.

"Yeah he's bleeding, but it looks like he's sleeping," the caller said, adding that he was not alone. "We're next to him," he said.

The second operator urged the caller to put a clean cloth on the wound, and said they would be there shortly.

Four of the boys have been suspended indefinitely from school. They have appealed their suspensions to the Lynn schools superintendent and a decision is expected soon. A 14-year-old boy is being held in state custody and the status of a sixth boy is unknown.

Authorities would not confirm the boys’ names because they are minors, and juvenile court proceedings are private.