Teen charged with manslaughter after friend is shot

The teenagers were friends, often went to parties together, and even shared the same last name: Baez.

On Saturday night, the buddies, Cheyenne Baez, 19, and Enrique Baez, 17, went to a party, joined by two other friends. They returned to Enrique Baez's Jamaica Plain apartment early Sunday morning and, according to police, began playing with a silver-handled revolver in Enrique Baez's bedroom.

Suddenly the gun fired, and a bullet tore through Cheyenne Baez's face, killing him.

Yesterday, as members of the friends' families wept, Enrique Baez was charged in West Roxbury District Court with manslaughter and two counts of unlawful possession of a weapon. He pleaded not guilty and was held on $25,000 cash bail.

According to the account of Assistant District Attorney John Powers during yesterday's arraignment, Cheyenne Baez, Enrique Baez, and two other unidentified men were in Enrique Baez's bedroom about 5:13 on Sunday morning, when Enrique Baez pulled out a .357 Magnum.

After the gun went off, Baez called police. When they arrived, officers found Cheyenne Baez seated on a chair, behind the bedroom door.

Enrique Baez at first told investigators his friend was shot in Hyde Park, but police did not see a trail of blood that would indicate the victim's body had been moved, Powers said.

Police officers found two guns in a yard adjacent to Enrique Baez's apartment on Washington Street about two hours later. One of them was a silver-handled .357 Magnum. It had five rounds in the cylinder, along with an empty shell casing, Powers said.

Eventually, Powers said, Baez acknowledged he found the gun somewhere and that his friend had been shot in the room, prosecutors said.

While police believe Baez was the shooter, Powers said investigators have not uncovered "the malice required for murder."

Enrique Baez's lawyer, Shannon McAuliffe, said her client lives with his mother and younger brother and is a sophomore at the Boston Day and Evening Academy in Roxbury. She said he would never want to hurt someone with whom he was close .

"This was a tragic accident, but nonetheless it was an accident," McAuliffe said at the arraignment, standing near Baez as he stood behind a transparent divider. Baez wore a blank expression.

"He asserts his innocence," McAuliffe said later in a telephone interview. "We're all hopeful that everyone will reserve forming an opinion before all the information comes out."

"It was an accident," wept one woman who identified herself as Enrique Baez's grandmother but declined to give her name. "They were friends until the end."

The victim's relatives held each other. Several declined to comment. Baez's brother, Luis Baez, said Cheyenne Baez was living with his mother in Roxbury and working as a manager at a local Taco Bell.

"I just want him to be remembered for who he was," said Luis Baez, the victim's 25-year-old brother. "He was a great kid. He would never hurt anyone."

He spoke gently to the relatives of Enrique Baez after the arraignment. He said he could not believe his brother would have played with a gun.

"He knew better," he said. "He never wanted to take that path. He wanted to enjoy life."

Hours after the arraignment, the victim's family gathered at a relative's house. At least two dozen people were inside, comforting each other, but Baez's 52-year-old mother was inconsolable.

"He took him away from me," she wailed in Spanish, as relatives tried to soothe her. "He was so good, so good."

Maria Cramer can be reached at mcramer@globe.com.