A man was convicted for the 2020 murder of Deija Mendez, a 23-year-old Boston woman who he killed during an argument over a car, The Boston Globe reported.
Xavier DeJesus, 23, fatally shot Mendez in Lowell in June 2020 during the dispute, the Globe reported, citing police and prosecutors. On Wednesday, a Middlesex Superior Court jury found the Lowell man guilty of second-degree murder and multiple firearm charges. He is expected to be sentenced Monday, Middlesex District Attorney Marian T. Ryan’s office told the newspaper.
It is alleged DeJesus shot Mendez in the head outside of a house on Coral Street in Lowell around 3:30 p.m. on June 23, 2020. He was in the driver’s seat of a black Chevrolet Tahoe. Authorities said Mendez and DeJesus may have known each other and been fighting over the car before he shot her.
DeJesus was arrested in late July 2020 following a month-long search for the man and after the Massachusetts State Police Violent Fugitive Apprehension Section added him to its most wanted list.
State Police troopers and officers found DeJesus hiding in the basement of his Fall River home. He tried to run out the back door of the resident but ran back inside after seeing police behind the house, according to authorities.
Xavier was taken into custody, returned to Middlesex County and charged with murder, discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a dwelling, carrying a firearm without a license and possession of ammunition without an FID card, the district attorney’s office said.
