A Massachusetts man who raped, killed and burned a teenager in 2002 in what officials described as “one of the most horrific murders” was denied parole again.
Adalberto Ingles pleaded guilty to second-degree murder for the death of 18-year-old Monica Mejia in 2005. He was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole.
Parole was also denied following a parole hearing in 2017.
On July 16, 2002, Mejia attended a party on Washington Avenue in Chelsea where Ingles, 22, and his co-defendant, Melvin Martinez, 18, were as well.
Officials said Mejia was intoxicated and distraught over her relationship with her boyfriend. Martinez, who went by the nickname “Pinocchio,” offered to take her to see her boyfriend, and the two left together at about 11:30 p.m.
Ingles followed and joined them at a park near the Chelsea Soldiers’ Home. Alone with Mejia in the park, Ingles and Martinez beat her on the head with a large rock, stripped her of her clothes and raped her.
Each man told police the other forced him to rape Mejia, according to a 2002 Boston Globe article. They then returned to the party, got a bed sheet and set her on fire.
Mejia died due to blunt force trauma to her head and thermal injuries.
“This is one of the most horrific murders we’ve had in a long time, particularly involving people so young,” Assistant District Attorney Dennis Collins said, according to the newspaper article.
In 2006, Martinez’s trial ended in a mistrial when the jury were unable to reach a verdict. During a second trial in 2007, the then 23-year-old was convicted and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
However, 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 Martinez. He has not been scheduled for a parole hearing.
Mejia’s mother called Martinez “heartless” and the situation a “nightmare,” according to a 2007 Boston Globe article. But she felt justice had been served.
Mejia’s mother and sister testified at the July 1 hearing against Ingles getting parole.
The Massachusetts Parole Board said Ingles had little insight into his behaviors.
“He has a history of violence related disciplinary reports. He has engaged in minimal rehabilitative programming. He did not progress in SOTP, resulting in his termination from the program,” the parole board wrote in its Nov. 17 decision.
He was denied parole with another hearing in five years.
