A man who shot and killed a rival gang member in Mattapan while he was walking his dog was denied parole.
In 1998, Jack Beliard was convicted of first-degree murder for the death of Rico Green, 18. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Two years earlier, 20-year-old Beliard and Green had gotten in a fight and Beliard got a black eye. Beliard then spent the next few nights driving around Mattapan looking for someone from Green’s gang to shoot, according to the Massachusetts Parole Board.
At about 3 a.m. on Sept. 7, 1996, Beliard and another person stood behind a tree on Verrill Street in Mattapan until they saw Green walking towards them with his dog.
“Mr. Beliard and the co-defendant then ambushed Mr. Green,” the parole board wrote.
He was shot nine times, including in the chest, hand, leg, back, shoulder and head.
In January 2024, the Supreme Judicial Court ruled in Commonwealth v. Mattis that sentencing people, ages 18 through 20 at the time of their offense, to life without the possibility of parole was unconstitutional and amounted to “cruel and unusual punishment.”
Massachusetts was the first state in the country to transform the law, experts said.
“Essentially, the brains of what we are calling ‘late adolescents’ or ‘emerging adults’ function very much like juveniles,” Northampton attorney Paul Rudof, one of the lawyers who successfully challenged life sentences for individuals aged 18 to 20, told The Republican.
There were 210 cases that fell into the Mattis decision across Massachusetts, including Beliard.
Beliard, now 49, went in front of the parole board for the first time on July 16.
During his hearing, Beliard described a significant trauma history that he never received treatment for.
“He had limited coping skills and engaged in problematic drinking and anti-social behaviors,” the parole board wrote. “Mr. Beliard has had a difficult adjustment; however, he has improved his conduct and has invested in meaningful rehabilitation in the past four years.”
The parole board encouraged him to “continue his mentorship and invest in any additional opportunities to further his insight with regard to victim empathy.”
The board also noted his possible deportation to Haiti if he were released. The parole board said that Beliard needs to create a release plan in both Massachusetts and Haiti.
Ultimately, the board denied his parole with another hearing scheduled in two years.
The Supreme Judicial Court’s Mattis decision has been devastating for the families of those killed as they are forced to relive the trauma, often going in front of the parole board and the incarcerated individual to make their own case.
Families have described the process as a “nightmare,” stating they feel betrayed and that the system is treating murderers as victims while their own pain is ignored. One family member during a previous hearing walked out, feeling as if his side wasn’t being fairly heard after the incarcerated individual was told they did a good job.
The parole board has so far granted freedom to about 35 people, which is a significant majority of those who have had hearings and decisions released. About 14 people have been denied parole following the Mattis decision.
