On the night of May 6, 2018, the sound of gunfire shattered the quiet of a Haverhill, Massachusetts neighborhood. Responding to multiple 911 calls around 10:45 p.m., police discovered 40-year-old Jeffrey Larkin, a Caucasian male, lying in the street at the intersection of Emerson Street and Grand Avenue with a gunshot wound to his chest. Larkin, who was residing in Revere but had spent most of his life in Lynn, was rushed to Holy Family Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
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investigation into Larkin's death revealed it was not a random act of violence. Authorities learned that Larkin was acquainted with his alleged killer. Witnesses reported that an argument escalated, leading to the fatal shooting. For months, the case remained unsolved, leaving the community on edge as police searched for the person responsible. Investigators canvassed the neighborhood for clues in the immediate aftermath, and the city's mayor expressed his outrage over the murder.
Six months later, in November 2018, a breakthrough in the case led to an arrest. The Essex District Attorney's Office announced that Carlos Manel Rivera, a Haverhill resident also known as "Chin," was taken into custody by Massachusetts State Police and Haverhill Police and charged with murder. The investigation suggested that the dispute between Rivera and Larkin stemmed from a drug deal that had gone wrong. Following the shooting, Rivera allegedly fled the scene. In connection with the case, a 25-year-old woman named Sky Stefanelli was also indicted on a charge of accessory after the fact.
