An East Boston man working as a bouncer at a downtown bar over St. Patrick’s Day weekend has been charged with murder in connection with the fatal stabbing of a former US Marine.
Alvaro Larrama, 38, of East Boston was charged with murder at Boston Municipal Court in the stabbing death of Daniel Martinez, 23, outside the Sons of Boston Bar on Union St. near Faneuil Hall on Saturday evening.
Larrama pleaded not guilty at his arraignment and was held without bail at the request of Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden’s office. Judge Steven Key ordered Larrama to return to court April 28, for a probable cause hearing.
According to police reports, officers assigned to District A-1 responded to reports of a person stabbed outside the Sons of Boston just before 7 pm Saturday evening. When officers arrived they located an adult male victim, later identified as Matinez, suffering from an apparent stab wound to the chest. Martinez, suffering life-threatening injuries, was transported by Boston EMS to Mass General where he died less than a half hour after the incident.
Martinez, a native of the Chicago area, had recently been discharged after a four-year stint in the Marines and was in Boston visiting friends.
“The heartbreak for Mr. Martinez’s family, and for all those who knew and served with him, is incalculable,” said Hayden, who met with Martinez’s parents prior to the arraignment. “This is also heartbreaking for Boston, because it represents an image of the city that does not truly reflect who we are.”
At Larrama’s arraignment Assistant District Attorney Caitlin Grasso said that video surveillance from numerous establishments shows Martinez and Larrama engaging in a brief conversation while Martinez and a friend were waiting in line outside Sons of Boston, where Larrama was working as a bouncer. Officers later learned Larrama had denied Martinez and his friend entrance. Martinez and his friend walked away and were subsequently pursued by Larrama. Grasso said the video shows Martinez raising his left hand as if to defend himself, then striking Larrama’s head with an aluminum beer bottle.
Grasso said the video then shows Larrama striking the victim in the chest. Larrama then entered Sons of Boston, where he is seen washing his hands, discarding his sweatshirt and turning his shirt inside out. He then left through a back exit.
Witnesses at the scene, several of whom were Larrama’s colleagues at Sons of Boston, identified him as the perpetrator.
Medical examiners identified the stab wound as the cause of Martinez’s death. Boston Police immediately issued a warrant for Larrama’s arrest and began their search on Saturday night but Larrama eventually turned himself into police on Monday morning