By MATT APUZZO, Standard-Times staff writer
NEW BEDFORD --
Prosecutors yesterday dropped murder conspiracy charges against one of the
juveniles accused of helping plot a New Bedford school massacre. In exchange,
the 16-year-old boy admitted to a much less serious charge in juvenile court.
The details of the
juvenile charge are not public but likely stem from a shotgun shell police found
during a search of the boy's room. He will be placed in the care of the
Department of Youth Services, where he is likely to be in custody for a matter
of months. He is the second
juvenile accused in the plot to take a plea deal in the past month. Michael
McKeehan, 16, cut a deal last month that put him in DYS custody for five years.
Included in that
deal was a provision the boy would not have to testify against his older brother
Eric, against whom prosecutors appear to be focusing their efforts. Prosecutor Raymond
P. Veary Jr. would not say whether yesterday's deal included a similar
provision, but defense attorney Donald A. Brisson said the boy would not take
the stand. "The commonwealth
wouldn't want him to testify," Mr. Brisson said. "As far as he is concerned this
was all just talk. That's all this ever was: just a bunch of trash talk by some
needy kids." Mr. Veary said
putting the boy in DYS custody on lesser charges struck a balance between the
city's need for safety and the boy's limited culpability. Just as important, he
said, was the boy's need for guidance and structure. The boy's mother,
Susan St. Hilaire, was delighted with what she called "a very fair ruling." She
had nothing but praise for Mr. Brisson and for Mr. Veary, who she said "was just
doing his job." She still
maintained, however, that the charges against the teens were overblown from the
beginning. "From the get-go,
this became an opportunity for a lot of people in New Bedford to look good," she
said. "It was pushed so they could look good, but the whole thing fell apart. It
came out like a firecracker and then died right out." She said her son
will not return to New Bedford High School; she said she will find him a private
tutor. It is
Standard-Times policy not to release the name of a juvenile unless he is
convicted of a major crime. While Michael McKeehan's deal involved a plea on his
murder conspiracy charge, the major charge against this boy was dropped and the
newspaper is not identifying him. This story appeared on Page A1 of The Standard-Times on June 28, 2002.