In the early morning hours of January 17, 2015, the life of 32-year-old Magno Sosa of Nantucket was tragically cut short on a street in Everett, Massachusetts. Responding to reports of a disturbance just before 2 a.m., police discovered Sosa's body on Elmwood Street, where he had sustained multiple gunshot wounds to the head. Paramedics pronounced him deceased at the scene.
The investigation into the death of the male victim quickly pointed to an altercation that had occurred earlier
that evening. Authorities learned that Sosa, along with two other men and Rigoberto Escobar, were at an apartment on Main Street in Everett around 1:00 a.m. A physical fight broke out between Sosa and Escobar, prompting the resident of the apartment to ask both men to leave. The argument between Sosa and Escobar continued outside, escalating from a fistfight to the fatal shooting.
Following the incident, investigators from the Everett Police Department and the Massachusetts State Police worked swiftly to identify a suspect. Their efforts led them to 26-year-old Rigoberto Escobar of Everett, who was arrested at approximately 4:30 a.m. the next day, on Sunday. After the shooting, Escobar had attempted to conceal the firearm used in the crime by wrapping it in a shirt and hiding it in a rolled-up rug in the basement of an apartment. Authorities were able to locate the weapon, and Escobar's fingerprints were found on it.
In May 2017, a Middlesex Superior Court jury found Rigoberto Escobar guilty of first-degree murder in the death of Magno Sosa. In addition to the murder charge, Escobar was also found guilty of carrying a loaded firearm, possession of a firearm without a license, and discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a dwelling. He was subsequently sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the murder conviction. Although Escobar later appealed his conviction, arguing his confession was improperly obtained, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts affirmed the first-degree murder conviction.
