Case of 19-Year-Old, Accused of Murdering Haverhill High Classmate, Moves to Superior Court

Salem Superior Court (Courtesy photograph.)

No date has yet been set for the Superior Court arraignment of the 18-year-old accused of stabbing to death his Haverhill High School classmate in April.

As expected, an Essex County Grand Jury indicted Oscar Quinones June 17 for the murder of 18-year-old Efrain Indio Maisonet. Carrie Kimball, spokeswoman for Essex County District Attorney Jonathan W. Blodgett, said the indictment takes the case out of Haverhill District Court. She said assistant District Attorney Erin Bellavia will prosecute the felony case.

Both Quinones, of 22 Sunrise Drive, Bradford, and Maisonet were previous boyfriends of the same woman who had all met at Haverhill Stadium on the night of April 7 for what was supposed to be a “fist fight.”

According to a report by Haverhill Patrolman William Mears, the young men were accompanied by various teenagers, including the woman who had been Maisonet’s current girlfriend. Maisonet, known by his nickname “Nene,” was already outside in the rear parking lot at Haverhill stadium when Quinones rode up as a passenger in a car with three other people.

Maisonet’s girlfriend and another 19-year-old woman both said Quinones exited the car and began hitting the other teen “in the chest in a downward motion.” It wasn’t until Quinones withdrew that the women noticed a knife and Maisonet exclaimed he had been stabbed. The girlfriend told Mears “the knife was big and looked like a fishing knife.” She and other witnesses said Quinones then got back in the car and sped off. The two women, accompanied by another 18-year-old man and his female friend rushed the bleeding teen to Holy Family Hospital across the street. Maisonet was later medflighted to Boston where he died.

Quinones was arrested hours later near Harbor Place, downtown. He told Detective Kevin Portnoy he had “ongoing issues” with Maisonet for five years. He described the confrontations as “verbal at times, but have also escalated to physical altercations.” In his version of events, Quinones claimed he and Maisonet had only a verbal argument at first, but that his car had been blocked from leaving by the women. He admitted to stabbing Maisonet twice, but only after being punched while trying to leave. The Haverhill detective noted Quinones had “no visible marks on him.” Police said Quinones refused to name the other two men and a woman who were with him.

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