18-YEAR-OLD ADMITS TO SHOOTING, KILLING FRIEND Feb. 11, 2008 A Jamaica Plain teen pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and other charges today in connection with a friend’s fatal shooting on Easter Sunday of 2007, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley announced. Prosecutors recommended a term of five to seven years in state prison and three years of probation for ENRIQUE BAEZ (D.O.B. 4/27/89) following his admission to shooting 19-year-old Cheyenne Baez while toying with a loaded .357 handgun on April 8, 2007. Suffolk Superior Court Judge Margaret Hinkle sentenced him to a total of five years in the Suffolk County House of Correction to be followed by 2½ years of probation. Accommodating a request by Assistant District Attorney John Powers, Hinkle further ordered that Baez obtain a high school diploma or graduate equivalency degree, that he seek and maintain employment upon his release, that he remain drug-free and undergo random drug testing while on probation, and that he have no contact with Cheyenne Baez’ family. Enrique Baez, who had no prior record, pleaded guilty to all the charges against him, which also included two counts each of unlawful possession of a firearm and receiving a firearm with an obliterated serial number and single counts of possession of ammunition and possession of marijuana. “Do you admit that you shot Cheyenne Baez on April 8, 2007?” Hinkle asked the defendant. “Yes, your honor,” he responded. Had the case proceeded to trial, Suffolk prosecutors would have introduced evidence that Enrique Baez, Cheyenne Baez, and two others had been to a party on the night of April 7 and returned to Enrique Baez’ Washington Street home in the early morning hours of April 8. They continued to socialize until about 5:00 a.m., when Enrique Baez went to his bed and retrieved a chrome-plated Ruger .357 handgun. Prosecutors would also have demonstrated that Enrique Baez inadvertently fired the gun as he brought it over to his friends. Witness statements matched the defendant’s own admission that he meant only to show off the gun when it fired, striking Cheyenne Baez once in the head. Both witnesses fled the scene after the gun went off. Enrique Baez called 911 and allowed Boston Police homicide detectives into his room. After he gave a statement, Boston Police recovered the Ruger and a second chrome-plated .357 revolver in a yard adjacent to his residence. The Ruger was loaded with five rounds in the cylinder and one spent shell under the hammer; the second, a Smith & Wesson, was empty. Enrique Baez indicated that he had found one firearm and was holding the other for a friend. A search of his room also turned up a quantity of marijuana. Prior to sentencing, Cheyenne Baez’ loved ones took the stand to tell how his death affected them. “I will be strong for him because he was always strong for us,” said Jackie Molina, the victim’s brother-in-law. “I will always be there for his family because they have always been there for me.” Cheyenne Baez’ older brother, Hatuey Baez, spoke of the “unimaginable stress and depression” that overtook him after his brother’s death. “My life has changed into a life of solitude,” he said. After they spoke, the defendant also took the stand to express his remorse. “I’ve been thinking about this for a while,” he said. “I know saying I’m sorry isn’t going to change anything. I know what you all are going through. Don’t think it wasn’t an accident …. I’ve got to live with this for as long as I live.” “Cheyenne Baez, a young man who was so much to so many, is dead because a teenager treated a handgun as a toy,” Conley said. “We could find no malice, no intent to do harm, but the defendant’s actions took a life and he must be held to account for them.” Enrique Baez was represented by attorney Shannon McAuliffe. Return to the Press Releases page.