SALEM – Jose Cabrera, who is charged with killing a Lynn gang member on Olive Street in 2008, is scheduled to go on trial today in Salem Superior Court.Cabrera, 20, formerly of 76 Park St., is charged with the pre-meditated shooting death of Tony Pich, who was gunned down on his front porch on Nov. 1, 2008, during an apparent altercation between rival gang members.Jury selection is expected to begin today with each potential juror being asked numerous questions ranging from if they have a close friend or family member who has ever been a victim of gang-related violence, have they been a crime victim and can they act impartially.A jury panel of 14, including two alternates, will be selected. Once the jury panel is seated and sworn in, they will travel to Lynn to view the site of the crime.Pich, 21, was shot once in the chest at 1-3 Olive St., shortly before 2:30 a.m. Pich’s family members drove him to the North Shore Medical Center in Salem, where he was pronounced dead at about 3 a.m. He was killed with a bullet from a .9mm revolver, but the gun was never recovered.Pich had fired gunshots back at Cabrera’s car, identified as a silver vehicle by witnesses, as it went down Fayette Street, which faces Olive Street.Police discovered a silver Kia two days later on Estes Street with a parking ticket on the windshield and a bullet hole in the trunk.Authorities believe the silver Kia was the same vehicle that the gunshots were fired from that killed Pich.Authorities identified Olive Street as a Crip’s gang hangout and Cabrera is a reported member of the Deuce Boyz, a rival gang.Raymond C. Bulger, 22, of 322 Curwin Circle, Lynn, was apparently with Pich that night and is expected to be called as a witness for the state.Cabrera faces a life sentence in state prison with no chance of ever being paroled, if convicted. He remains held at the Middleton Jail without bail pending the outcome of his trial.
