SALEM — As the trial of Lynn man Marcus Carlisle and Everett man Tyrell Berberena continued into its 10th day, Massachusetts State Trooper Brendan Carnes took the stand to examine security camera footage, witness testimonies, and the defendants’ cell phone records.
Carlisle and Berberena are on trial for allegedly killing Lynn man Noe Hernandez and injuring four others in a drive-by shooting that took place July 4 2020 at a cookout on 134 Fayette St., Lynn.
The Commonwealth alleges that Elijah Fontes-Wilson, who has testified for the prosecution during the trial, rented a white pickup truck, which he used to drive Carlisle, Berberena, and alleged co-conspirator Josue Cespedes to the cookout.
Berberena and Carlisle, accused of being members of the Tiny Rascals Gang with Fontes-Wilson and Cespedes, allegedly opened fire on the partygoers under the belief that they were members of a rival gang, Los Trinitarios.
After police found shell casings and ballistic damage on a truck parked at the end of Union Place July 5, they took it in for evidence. When Fontes-Wilson filed a police report July 5 reporting the truck stolen, now retired Lynn Police Lieutenant Tom Reddy and Carnes interrogated him.
Fontes-Wilson said he initially lied to police, stating 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.
Carlisle’s attorney James Krasnoo argued last week that Fontes-Wilson’s “castle of lies” during his initial interview with police demonstrated a clear lack of credibility as a witness.
On Tuesday, Berberena’s attorney Brian Kelley cross-examined Carnes to make the case that Fontes-Wilson’s cooperation with police and testimony has been motivated solely by an attempt to avoid a life sentence.
Although Fontes-Wilson was only offered a reduced sentence agreement in August 2022, Kelley asked Carnes to confirm that he initially encouraged Fontes-Wilson to cooperate by hinting at leniency July 5, 2020.
Carnes confirmed that in his first interview with Fontes-Wilson, he told him that he did not think he was the shooter in this case. Carnes said that he also told Fontes-Wilson that he would “be his savior” during the interrogation.
“Then you also said something along the lines of, ‘There’s a window of opportunity here for you to cooperate,’ right?” Kelley asked Carnes.
“Yes,” Carnes replied.
Kelley played footage taken from a home security camera from a home on Union Place. The footage, which prosecutor Susan Dolhun initially introduced as evidence, depicts the white pickup truck stopping on Union Place, before a 10-second lag that cuts to a man, believed to be Fontes-Wilson, stepping out of the driver’s side door.
“Why is it that we don’t have a more complete video here about this particular angle?” Kelley asked Carnes.
“We didn’t collect it, sir,” Carnes responded.
Fontes-Wilson previously testified that he, Berberena, and Cespedes wiped the truck’s interior for fingerprints before abandoning it. When Kelley asked Carnes if the video reflected Fontes-Wilson’s testimony, Carnes replied that it did not.
When Dolhun questioned Carnes, she asked him to confirm line-by-line the alleged conspirators phone calls with one another on July 3 and July 4, 2020, confirming that Fontes-Wilson, Cespedes, and Carlisle called one another dozens of times on July 3, and that Fontes-Wilson left Berberena a voicemail the night before the shooting. Carnes confirmed the calls in question.
The trial will resume at 9 a.m. Wednesday in Salem Superior Court.
