Trial set for Lynn man in stabbing death

SALEM – Yeison Arias, the 21-year-old Lynn man charged with the stabbing death of a teen father during a bloody rumble at the Connery rink in 2009, is scheduled to go on trial this fall in Superior Court.In Salem Superior Court Monday, Assistant District Attorney James P. Gubitose and defense lawyer Joseph A. Boncore asked for a trial date in early November.Judge Howard J. Whitehead scheduled the expected week and one-half trial for Nov. 4.Regional Area Justice, David A. Lowy, determines in which Superior Court the case will be tried. That schedule will not be confirmed until a week before the actual trial date.Arias, formerly of 196 Hamilton Ave., Lynn, is charged with the April 10, 2009 stabbing death of Carmelo Sandoval.Sandoval, 18, of 57 Kirtland St., Lynn, the father of one daughter, was stabbed and killed at the Connery Rink, at 190 Shepard St., shortly before 10 p.m.Police received several 911 calls that evening regarding the incident. While police were responding, they learned that a woman was on the way to the hospital with Sandoval.She was kept on the phone by the 911 dispatcher until an ambulance met up with her on Franklin Street, where medical personnel found Sandoval slumped over in the back seat of her car with a single stab wound to the chest.Emergency paramedics tried to revive Sandoval, but he was pronounced dead at North Shore Medical Center.Investigators learned that a few days earlier there had been a confrontation between two rival gang members involving a junior high student and another person.On the night of the incident, investigators said they learned that Arias, along with Bernardo Urena, 21, went to the rink armed with knives and at the end of the free-skating period, a fight broke out between two rival gangs, which escalated into a brawl.Witnesses told police that Arias was fighting with Sandoval before he fell to the ground.Police say they have a video which reportedly shows Arias entering the rink and returning to the rink to hide what they thought was a weapon after the incident.