Lawyer says murder suspect has air tight alibi

LYNN – Jose Cabrera fired the shot that killed rival gangster Tony Pich on Nov. 1, police and a prosecutor said Friday, but Cabrera’s father and lawyer both said the 18-year-old was home with his children after a night of trick or treating.
Cabrera, 76 Park St., #15, pleaded innocent to a murder charge and was ordered held without bail by Judge Ellen Flatley until his scheduled return to District Court on Dec. 5.
A dozen police, probation and court officers lined the walls of the courtroom Friday as Cabrera stood behind a chalkboard set up to restrict his identification.
Pich was shot shortly before 2:30 a.m. last Saturday during a gun battle at 1-3 Olive St. and died at Salem Hospital. Police described that address as a Crip gang house and August 2007 court records state Cabrera is “associated with the Deuce Boyz/Soldiers gang.”
Pich and other youths were standing on the porch of 1-3 Olive when witnesses said a small, silver-colored car drove down Fayette Street and three or four men in the car fired shots at the house.
The porch occupants returned fire and the car sped off, then returned, guns blazing.
“Residents were violently awakened by sounds of gunshots and breaking glass,” Assistant District Attorney Christina Ronan said in court.
A police statement of fact filed with court documents quoted an individual identified as “Witness Seven” who “informed detectives that he knows a person who he knows as Jose Cabrera as the individual who shot from the silver vehicle killing Tony Pich.”
Police arrested Cabrera Thursday when he went to District Court to see his probation officer. He is on probation through January in connection with the August 2007 cocaine possession charge.
Ronan said Cabrera asked his probation officer for permission to travel to the Dominican Republic.
“Clearly he is a flight risk,” Ronan said in requesting Flatley to order Cabrera held without bail.
Juan Cabrera told The Item his son was at home on Chestnut Street when the shooting occurred.
“He said he never got out of the house.”
Cabrera’s attorney Gary Zerola disputed testimony indicating his client is a gang member and said witness accounts, including descriptions of the car involved in the shooting, vary.
“Jose Cabrera did not commit this crime. He has an airtight alibi. The shooter is still out there with a working firearm,” Zerola said.
Juan Cabrera and Zerola said Cabrera attended English High School and is finishing off studies at North Shore Community College to earn his high school diploma. He has two children, ages 1 and 2.
“Jose is a God-fearing Christian young man,” Zerola said.
Court records indicate police in June 2007 spotted Cabrera sitting inside a car during a confrontation between gang members and charged him after finding alcohol in the car.
He was charged with cocaine possession after court officers searched him as he entered District Court on a day when gang members congregated there while a judge conducted a dangerousness hearing regarding a gang related shooting.