On a spring morning in Taunton, Massachusetts, a violent altercation cut short the life of 23-year-old Gordon Weeks, a Black / African American male. The confrontation unfolded on March 24, 2016, in front of the Fifth Avenue Apartments, where a dispute escalated with tragic finality. During the altercation, a man named Miguel Marrero fired six shots at Weeks.
As Weeks tried to flee, he was struck by four bullets, one in the chest, one in the buttocks, and two in his back.
In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, friends of the gravely wounded Weeks rushed him to Morton Hospital in a private vehicle. Despite their efforts, his injuries were too severe, and he was pronounced dead upon arrival. The following day, law enforcement located and arrested a suspect, Miguel Marrero, in Roxbury. Marrero, also from Taunton, was subsequently charged in connection with the fatal shooting.
The legal proceedings that followed culminated in a week-long trial in Fall River Superior Court. A jury convicted Miguel Marrero of second-degree murder, carrying an illegal firearm, and unlawful possession of ammunition. In October 2019, a judge sentenced Marrero, then 23, to a life prison sentence with the possibility of parole after 20 years. Gordon Weeks was remembered as a devoted father to his two daughters, A'Nyla and Cienna, and a beloved son and brother.
