LYNN — On the sixth day of the trial of Lynn man Marcus Carlisle and Everett man Tyrell Berberena — accused of murdering Noe Hernandez and injuring four others in a drive-by shooting at 134 Fayette St. on July 4, 2020 — the defense cross-examined Elijah Fontes-Wilson, the alleged driver in the shooting.
Fontes-Wilson said on Monday, when he first took the stand, that he, Berberena, and Carlisle were members of the Tiny Rascals Gang at the time of the shooting. He revealed that he was concerned with his safety when Susan Dolhun asked him what his thoughts were about his testimony.
During that testimony, Fontes-Wilson said that he was shot standing outside of a house on Hardwood Street June 13, and heard rumors from gang members that a rival gang, either Los Trinitarios or the Crips, shot him and other members of the gang. The Fayette Street shooting, he testified, was in retaliation for the June 13 shooting.
Resuming his testimony Wednesday, Fontes-Wilson said that he drove the defendants, and alleged co-conspirator Josue Cespedes (J.C.), to a Tiny Rascals cookout at Union Court.
There, Fontes-Wilson said, someone told him to move the truck to the end of Union Place. He drove the truck and its three passengers down the dead-end street, where they wiped its interior to remove fingerprints, and gathered their belongings.
Cespedes, Fontes-Wilson said, left his gun on the truck’s center console expecting Fontes-Wilson to pick it up. Fontes-Wilson said that he had never fired or owned a gun before, and didn’t touch Cespedes’ gun.
“J.C was collecting a couple of things, like his belongings or wherever, he momentarily put it on the middle armrest thing,” Fontes-Wilson said. “He said, like, ‘Hold it. ’ ”
The alleged driver testified that he confided in Cespedes the next day that the shooting disturbed and scared him. He said that Cespedes, who was 17-years-old at the time, assured Fontes-Wilson that since he was a minor, he would “take the rap” for it.
Fontes-Wilson said that the four men planned to move the truck away from Union Place, but that Cespedes lost the key. The four, he said, discussed a variety of ways to remove the evidence before Berberena advised him to report the truck stolen.
“The side mirror was shot off, so I was advised by Marcus to extend the rental so we could have have enough time to replace the side mirror,” Fontes-Wilson said. “At one point we talked about cocktail bombing it, just setting it on fire to burn everything.”
On July 5, Fontes-Wilson’s birthday, he called Lynn Police to report the rental truck stolen. At that time, police had already towed the car in as evidence, and the police asked Fontes-Wilson to come in for questioning.
He told Dolhun that he willingly waived his right to an attorney, and lied to the police about the truck being stolen.
“I was in the gang life at that time. Our mindset wasn’t to cooperate with the police,” Fontes-Wilson said. “When you’re in the gang life, there’s no telling.”
Dolhun presented the jury a Snapchat photograph taken by Fontes-Wilson of three men — Carlisle, Fontes-Wilson, and Josue Cespedes — in the truck on July 4, flashing what Fontes-Wilson said were “gang signs.”
She also displayed text messages between the four men in the days following the shooting.
Fontes-Wilson testified that he had an altercation with Carlisle over text July 5. He was holding Carlisle’s money, and wanted to keep some of it for his son since he was questioned by police on his “R-day,” the way Tiny Rascals referred to their birthdays.
“You put me on a f—ing crash mission the day before my R-day,” Fontes-Wilson texted Cespedes to tell Carlisle. “I spent my f—ing R-day getting interrogated.”
After an hour-long lunch recess, Carlisle’s attorney James Krasnoo cross-examined Fontes-Wilson, focusing on Fontes-Wilson’s lies to police on July 5 to argue that Fontes-Wilson could not be considered a credible witness.
Fontes-Wilson initially told now retired Lynn Police Lieutenant Tom Reddy that he rented the car with his girlfriend’s COVID-19 stimulus check, and did not let any of his friends drive in it.
He also said that he parked the car near Cook Street Park, and spent July 4 “driving around” running errands before attending a baby shower, where he spent the rest of the day. Krasnoo made Fontes-Wilson confirm that the story he told police on July 5 was completely fabricated.
Krasnoo also asked Fontes-Wilson why he told the Commonwealth during his testimony Wednesday that he kept $1,000 of Carlisle’s money, when he later admitted to the defense that he withheld $1,600. Krasnoo then reminded Fontes-Wilson that he was under oath.
“You know that under oath means that you’ve got to explore your memory and come up with the most specific answer that you can,” Krasnoo said. “You didn’t do it in that instance, did you?”
Fontes-Wilson replied that he had not replied incorrectly on purpose.
Krasnoo ended his cross-examination by reminding Fontes-Wilson that he filed a false police report under risk of perjury, and reading Fontes-Wilson’s reaction after the police informed him they had already found the truck.
Fontes-Wilson had repeatedly asked police if he could leave, and left when Reddy told him that the truck was being used as evidence in a drive-by shooting.
“[Reddy said] ‘You want to leave, you can leave, but when you go, your opportunity goes with you. That’s what you need to understand. You’re wearing the clothes, it’s you in the video that we have driving your truck’ to which you said ‘It’s not me, it’s not me,’ ” Krasnoo recounted.
He said that when state troopers told Fontes-Wilson that lying would send him to prison, the alleged driver left the station.
“You built a whole castle of lies, didn’t you?” Krasnoo asked Fontes-Wilson.
“Yes, at first I did,” Fontes-Wilson replied.
He returned to the police station July 7 to cooperate.
After Krasnoo’s cross-examination, Judge Salim Tabit reminded the jury that Krasnoo’s cross-examination should only be used to gauge Fontes-Wilson’s credibility as a witness, and not to assess the case in any other way.
The trial was adjourned and will resume at 9:30 a.m. Thursday at Salem Superior Court.
