In the early hours of March 16, 2019, the life of 31-year-old Marco Rodrigues of Fall River, a Hispanic male, was tragically cut short in Brockton, Massachusetts. The incident began to unfold around 1:43 a.m. when Brockton Police were alerted to gunfire in the vicinity of Grand and Main streets by the city's ShotSpotter system and several 911 calls. Responding officers arrived at the scene and gathered evidence, but the victim was not immediately found. It wasn't until approximately 5 a.m.
that police received further 911 calls reporting a shooting victim discovered behind a building at 1040 Main Street. Emergency services found Marco Rodrigues wounded and transported him to Good Samaritan Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The investigation into the death of Rodrigues, a popular local entertainer known as DJ Marco Polo, was a collaborative effort between the Brockton Police and State Police detectives assigned to the Plymouth County District Attorney's Office. Through their investigation, which included reviewing video surveillance footage, text messages, and conducting witness interviews, authorities were able to identify three individuals connected to the fatal shooting. Friends and family remembered Rodrigues as a beloved son and father.
In June 2019, a Plymouth County Grand Jury returned indictments against three individuals. Claudio DeBrito and Anderson DePina, both of Brockton, were indicted on charges of second-degree murder, two counts of witness intimidation, one count of assault with intent to murder, and one count of assault and battery on a pregnant woman. DeBrito faced an additional charge of witness intimidation. At the time of the indictment, DeBrito was already in custody, and DePina was subsequently arrested. A third individual, Leann Cushman of Brockton, was indicted on a charge of being an accessory after the fact.
