On the evening of February 7, 2020, Andrew Farley, a 62-year-old Black man from Dorchester, Massachusetts, was fatally shot while picking up a submarine sandwich at the Uphams Corner House of Pizza on Columbia Road. The incident, which unfolded around 6:30 p.m., cut short the life of a man remembered for his kind heart and peaceful soul. Farley was an unintended victim in a senseless act of violence.
He had just offered his lighter to another man inside the pizzeria and was engaged in a brief conversation when a dispute that began outside spilled indoors.
A group of individuals had a confrontation with the man Farley was speaking with, and one person in the group began shooting at him. In the hail of bullets, Andrew Farley was struck. He collapsed to the floor as the intended target fled the scene, chased by the group. Farley was rushed to a local hospital, but he succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead. The initial investigation left the community with few answers, as police sought information from the public to help piece together the events of that tragic night. No immediate arrests were made, and the search for the person responsible for Farley's death continued.
For over a year, the case remained a painful open wound for Farley's loved ones and the Dorchester community. Then, on February 15, 2021, a significant breakthrough occurred. Boston Police Department's Fugitive Unit arrested 23-year-old Roberto Martinez-Baez of Dorchester in connection with Farley's murder. Investigators had discovered crucial evidence behind an apartment complex near the pizzeria, including the suspect's phone, a sweater matching the description of the shooter, and the firearm used in the killing. Martinez-Baez was taken into custody on charges of murder, unlawful possession of a firearm, and possession of a large-capacity firearm.
In June 2023, a Suffolk Superior Court jury convicted Roberto Martinez-Baez of first-degree murder for the death of Andrew Farley. The conviction carried an automatic sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole. Justice, though slow to arrive, was ultimately delivered for Andrew Farley, a man who was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, his life tragically cut short by a bullet not meant for him.
