A New York man pleaded not guilty to charges in connection with the 1993 shooting death of an Ayer teenager in Fitchburg in Worcester Superior Court on Friday, two months after a Gardner man did the same.
Robert D’Lucca, 49, was indicted on one count of murder along with armed assault with intent to murder, assault with a dangerous weapon, carrying a firearm without a license and possession of ammunition without an FID card. The Gardner man, Lawrence Calafell, 51, was indicted on these charges too, according to Worcester County District Attorney Joseph Early Jr.’s office in a March statement.
When D’Lucca appeared in court on Friday, the Brooklyn man stood behind a door in court, the Telegram & Gazette reported. D’Lucca pleaded not guilty and was ordered held without bail, a spokesperson from Early’s office told MassLive.
After 30 years, “The witnesses’ memories change, people change,” D’Lucca’s defense attorney Laurel Singer said in court on Friday, the Telegram wrote.
He is expected to return to court on June 7 for a pretrial conference. Calafell is also due to appear that day, according to the Telegram.
The two men are accused of shooting into a car parked on Daniels Street with three people inside on Nov. 25, 1993, according to the district attorney’s office. Deondray Atwood, 15, of Fitchburg, was shot several times during the incident and died of his injuries.
Another passenger in the car was shot multiple times, but she survived, the district attorney’s office said. The driver of the car was uninjured.
D’Lucca was charged in connection with the shooting in 1993, but wasn’t tried because he was arrested in New York on separate murder charges, the district attorney’s office said. He has been serving time at Sing Sing Correctional Facility, a maximum security prison in Ossining, New York.
