SALEM — Marcus Carlisle, of Lynn, and Tyrell Berberena, of Everett, were found guilty of first-degree murder and numerous assault charges Tuesday afternoon at Salem Superior Court.
Three weeks after the trial began on Feb. 21, 13 jurors found Carlisle and Berberena guilty of murdering Lynner Noe Hernandez and injuring four others in a drive-by shooting at a cookout in Lynn on July 4, 2020.
Carlisle and Berberena said goodbye to their family members as court security officers put the men in handcuffs and took them back into custody.
Massachusetts law requires adults convicted of first-degree murder to be sentenced to life in state prison without parole. Justice Salim Tabit addressed the defense counsel and said that he would like to push sentencing for sometime in the near future.
“I know that I am bound by the law to uphold the sentence that the law requires. Even though that’s the case, I still prefer to put sentencing over for the future, not too far down the road,” Tabit said. “I know that there may be people who wish to allocute, which they have a right to do, and I also would like to hear from the counsel.”
As the court went into recess, members of Hernandez’s family stopped to shake hands with District Attorney Paul Tucker in the hallway.
“This is the result of a tremendous amount of work from the State Police, the Lynn Police detectives, and the Essex DA’s office,” Tucker said. “It’s a just verdict, and hopefully the victims here can get some measure of closure from it. Justice was delivered here today.”
Tucker added, in a later statement, that he appreciates the jury’s patience throughout the “long and complicated case.”
“The truth prevailed and I hope it brings some relief to Noe’s family and those injured in this intentional and unjustified attack,” Tucker said in the statement.
Sefas Hernandez, Hernandez’s sister, said that she was grateful to God for bringing her family justice. Hernandez’s mother, Rufina Felipe, echoed her daughter’s comment.
“I’m very grateful because justice was made,” Felipe said.
While Carlisle’s attorneys James Krasnoo and Benjamin Falkner declined to comment, Berberena’s attorney Brian Kelley said that he thought the prosecution lacked the evidence required to convict his client.
Kelley said that the fact that the jury found a verdict the day after closing arguments showed that the prosecution focused on evoking an emotional response from the jury, rather than the evidence of the case.
“This is why you don’t spend four weeks on a trial and 75 percent of it is about sadness and terrible incidents to overwhelm the jury with sympathy,” Kelley said. “After close to 400 exhibits, the jury spent less than three hours deliberating, which means they didn’t thoroughly consider some of the things that we had to say. That is not justice. That is not fairness. That’s not what the law requires.”
Kelley added that he believes his client and Carlisle would have a strong case should they choose to appeal.
Carlisle’s mother, Terressa Carlisle, said that while she empathized with the victim’s family, she believes her son was wrongfully convicted.
“I feel bad for the other family, they lost somebody. I’m not cold hearted, I feel bad, but my son didn’t do it,” Carlisle said. “My son is a good boy. He’s a great big brother, and a great father.”
