Mother of Lynn murder suspect falls ill in court

SALEM – The mother of Jose Cabrera, the 20-year-old Lynn man charged with the fatal shooting of a rival gang member on Halloween night 2008, was taken out of Salem Superior Court Monday following what appeared to be two small seizures and chest pains.The 46-year-old mother of eight children, who has been present for the entire trial as it entered its fifth week of testimony, collapsed in the courtroom just after 12:30 p.m., suffering what appeared to be a small seizure. The courtroom quickly went into complete disarray while family members rushed to her aid and broke down into tears and panic.Judge David A. Lowy immediately ordered the 16-member jury panel to exit through his chambers and away from the incident.Cabrera stood and wept openly as his mother was being attended to by Lynn police officers Lt. Michael Vail and Sgt. Edward Nardone as they waited for emergency medical personnel to arrive at the Federal Street complex.Just before she collapsed, the mother was observed wiping her forehead and eyes with tissues as Pastor Claire Sullivan from Straight Ahead Ministries was being quizzed by Prosecutor Kristen R. Buxton as to her knowledge concerning Cabrera’s involvement with the Deuce Boyz gang.The mother has a history of seizures, according to her sister.Cabrera, who was 18 at the time of the incident, is charged with the fatal shooting of Tony Pich, 22, who was gunned down in front of his home at 1-3 Olive St. in the early morning hours of Nov. 1, 2008.Pich, who was a member of the AKC gang (Avenue King Crips), was shot in the chest with a single bullet from a .357 revolver. The weapon used in the shooting was never found by police.Both the government and defense rested their case Monday afternoon.Cabrera, who has proclaimed his innocence since the onset of the case, did not take the stand in his own defense.His attorney Jeffrey T. Karp maintains that prosecutors charged the wrong man.Closing summations will commence this morning with both the prosecutor and defense presenting their theories of the case.Then Lowy will explain the law as it applies to the charge.Then the jury currently comprised of nine women and seven men will begin deliberations, but only 12 of the 16-member panel who heard the case will actually decide the fate of Cabrera. Four of the jurors will be selected to be on standby just in case one or more of the deliberating jurors has to be replaced.In the meantime, Cabrera remains held at the Middleton Jail without bail.A conviction on the first-degree murder charge carries a life sentence behind bars with no chance of ever being paroled.