Jose F. Vasquez Jr. (Courtesy photograph.)
Three men connected with last November’s stabbing murder of a 26-year-old in Haverhill were indicted today by an Essex County grand jury.
Indicted were 20-year-old David Trongeau and 19-year-old Kaiden Henderson for murder and armed robbery and 24-year-old Devaughn Johnson for two counts of being an accessory after the fact. The indictments move the cases out of Haverhill District Court and into Essex County Superior Court where the men face more severe penalties if convicted of the crimes.
Trongeau was the first to be charged in the Nov. 21 murder of Jose F. Vasquez Jr. at a Marble Street home. He was arrested three days after the stabbing by the Massachusetts State Police Violent Fugitive Apprehension Section, Essex State Police Detective Unit and Haverhill Police. On Nov. 26, Johnson was charged with being an accessory and, on Dec. 2, Henderson was arrested at a Holiday Inn in Boston without incident.
Haverhill Police, Fire and EMS were dispatched to a Marble Street home for a reported stabbing and found Vasquez suffering from apparent stab wounds. He was taken to Lawrence General Hospital where he was pronounced dead. District Attorney Jonathan W. Blodgett said at the time, “Investigators believe that this was not a random act and that there is no threat to the general public.”
In July 2018, Vasquez and his brother, Gilbert, both then living on High Street, were charged with the double stabbing of men from Methuen and Nashua, N.H., in a Lafayette Square alleyway. According to police, the brothers were said to have “a beef” with the Methuen man, who was stabbed in the abdomen. Charges against the brothers were dismissed, however, after the victims failed to appear for a probable cause court hearing.
All information about the case has so far been impounded at the request of the district attorney’s office.