In the late hours of a December evening in 2018, the quiet parking lot of the Regency Hotel in Dartmouth, Massachusetts, became the scene of a fatal encounter. Joseph Tavares, a 37-year-old Black / African American male from Fall River, was found unresponsive in the driver's seat of his vehicle on December 22nd. A night manager at the hotel had placed a 911 call around 10:34 p.m. after being alerted by a guest who heard loud thuds and the sound of breaking glass.
First responders discovered Tavares suffering from apparent gunshot wounds and rushed him to St. Luke's Hospital in New Bedford, where he was pronounced dead at 11:07 p.m. An autopsy would later reveal that he had been shot twice in the head and once in the neck at close range from the passenger seat of his car.
The investigation into the death of Joseph Tavares quickly led law enforcement to a suspect. Robert A. Rose, Jr., a 48-year-old from New Bedford, was arrested on December 27, 2018, following an interview at the Dartmouth Police Station. He was subsequently charged with murder and misleading police. Investigators determined that the homicide was drug-related, stating that Tavares and Rose knew each other through drug dealings, with Rose being a frequent customer of Tavares. The motive for the killing was determined to be robbery.
After a two-week trial in Fall River Superior Court, a jury convicted Robert Rose of first-degree murder in December 2022. He was also found guilty of several firearms charges, including carrying an illegal firearm and possession of a firearm with a defaced serial number. The prosecution successfully argued that Rose had planned to meet Tavares that night with the intent to rob him of cocaine, as he was allegedly in debt to Tavares for $2,300. The entire incident was reportedly captured on video surveillance. For his crimes, Robert Rose was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
