On the evening of May 2, 2014, a violent encounter in Providence, Rhode Island, claimed the life of 22-year-old Hispanic male, Francis Rodriguez. The incident, which unfolded around 8:15 p.m. near the intersection of Warrington Street and Elmwood Avenue, was the culmination of a dispute that had begun earlier in the day. Rodriguez was behind the wheel of his vehicle, with a passenger, when another car pulled alongside. Several shots were fired from a.
40 caliber Smith & Wesson pistol into Rodriguez's vehicle, fatally striking him. His passenger was unharmed.
The investigation quickly zeroed in on a suspect thanks to a witness who provided a description of the getaway car and its license plate. The vehicle was registered to the mother of Chaquiro Blandino, then 21 years old. The passenger in Blandino's car, Nelson Pineda, later told police that after an exchange of harsh words with Rodriguez earlier that day, Blandino had gone to his home to retrieve the gun used in the shooting. Further implicating Blandino, his own brother, who was arrested on an unrelated matter, led police to the murder weapon and stated that Chaquiro had confessed to the shooting.
In October 2015, a Providence County Superior Court jury found Chaquiro Blandino guilty of first-degree murder and a host of other charges, including assault with a dangerous weapon and various firearm offenses. Despite Blandino's claim of self-defense during the trial, the jury returned a guilty verdict after just three hours of deliberation. In January 2016, Blandino was sentenced to consecutive life sentences, in addition to 20 years. Prosecutors described the act not as self-defense, but as a "well thought out assassination," stating that Blandino had gone home with the sole intent to commit murder after the earlier verbal altercation.
