In the early morning hours of January 4, 2020, the life of 25-year-old Bryan Omar Mendez was tragically cut short in a fatal shooting in Lynn, Massachusetts. Mendez, whose last known address was in Worcester, was found with multiple gunshot wounds at the intersection of Howard and Lander streets shortly after 5 a.m. He was urgently transported to Salem Hospital, where he ultimately succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead.
The incident began when Mendez was confronted by a man attempting to rob him of his jewelry.
An investigation was immediately launched by the Lynn Police Department, the Essex County District Attorney's Office, and Massachusetts State Police. Their efforts soon identified Derell Guy, a 34-year-old man from Lynn with an extensive criminal history, as the primary suspect. Investigators determined that Guy had approached Mendez-Hernandez outside an "after-hours party" to steal his jewelry. When Mendez attempted to flee, Guy chased him down and fired a series of shots. An audio recording played during the subsequent trial captured Mendez pleading to be taken to a hospital as he lay dying from his wounds.
Following the identification of Guy as the suspect, a warrant for his arrest on charges of murder and armed robbery was issued. However, Guy had already fled and was actively evading capture. In July 2020, he was added to the Massachusetts State Police's "Most Wanted" list. After a nearly three-week manhunt, law enforcement, acting on tips, tracked Guy to Wilton, Maine. After an initial escape from a traffic stop, he was apprehended without incident in a wooded area in the nearby town of Carthage on July 28, 2020.
Derell Guy was extradited to Massachusetts to face trial for the murder of Bryan Omar Mendez. The trial took place in January 2023 and lasted for two weeks. On January 24, 2023, a jury found Derell Guy guilty of first-degree murder and armed robbery. The conviction was based on theories of extreme atrocity and cruelty, as well as felony murder, bringing a measure of justice to the family of Bryan Omar Mendez.
