The uncle of late Consentino student Precious Wallaces was assaulted by fellow inmates at the Middleton House of Correction hours after being arraigned on a new charge of alleged child rape. (File photograph)
Miguel Rivera, the Lawrence man charged in connection with the sudden death of his 11-year-old niece Precious Wallaces, has been moved to solitary confinement after being jumped at the Middleton House of Correction Tuesday night, Sheriff Kevin F. Coppinger tells WHAV.
The alleged assault took place at 8:30 p.m. on Jan. 29, just hours after Rivera appeared before a Lawrence District Court judge on new charges of alleged rape of a child. As a result of the brawl—that included four inmates—the 58-year-old will be held in solitary confinement.
“He sustained some bumps, bruises and a small cut. He was treated and released from our infirmary,” Coppinger told WHAV. “He will be held in a single cell and will have no other interaction with other inmates.”
Coppinger’s Special Investigations Unit is looking into the attack.
As WHAV previously reported, Consentino sixth-grader Wallaces and her sibling spent the night of Dec. 15 at their uncle’s house before she was allegedly exposed to fentanyl. During a police interview, Rivera said he slept in the same bed as the children, and was awakened by Wallaces having trouble breathing. Attempting chest compressions on the girl, Rivera called 911—but waited 13 minutes before dialing, police said.
“Miguel was not acting appropriately for the given situation and did not appear to have any sense of urgency,” Lawrence Detective Ana Villavizar testified in a police report.
Rivera also told police he flushed sleeping pills down the toilet for fear his niece ingested them. Wallaces was rushed to Boston’s Tufts Medical Center after the incident, where she remained in a coma until her death on Dec. 17.
Her uncle has been charged with allegedly permitting substantial bodily injury resulting in the girl’s death. Rivera next faces a judge in March.