Last year, a fisherman found the body of 34-year-old Leila Duarte Da Luz, a pregnant woman from Brockton, Massachusetts, beneath the ice in Carbuncle Pond in Coventry, Rhode Island, her head brutally bruised from blunt force trauma. Recently, a grand jury indicted Michael Lambert, 46, of Pawtucket, and Gary Gromkiewicz, 36, of Lincoln, on one count of murder and one count of conspiracy to commit murder in connection to the victim found in December 2022, according to NBC Boston.
Cell phone location data sheds light on the chilling journey of the two suspects – both with prior convictions for violent felonies that resulted in lengthy prison time – on December 21, 2022, the fateful day of the murder, as reported by What's Up Newp. Prosecutors stated that Gromkiewicz, the father of Da Luz's unborn child, and Lambert picked her up at her home in Brockton around 2:30 a.m. and then drove throughout Rhode Island.
An intricate web of cell phone data, surveillance footage, and evidence gathered from 53 search warrants led by Rhode Island State Police, as well as assistance from numerous agencies across Massachusetts and Rhode Island, brought the chilling case front and center. As WJAR reported, at around 5:15 a.m., surveillance video from a convenience store in Lincoln showed Lambert closely examining his left hand, which seemed to have lacerations on the knuckles. By 6:18 a.m., cell phone location data showed they made their way near Carbuncle Pond, where Da Luz’s body would later be found.
The state medical examiner's office confirmed the manner of death as a homicide and revealed that Da Luz was pregnant at the time, family members telling NECN that she was two months along. Horrifyingly, water found in her lungs indicated that she was alive when she entered the water.
Now, the suspects' indictment moves this disturbing case to Superior Court, with both men being held at Rhode Island prisons. The arraignment of the two Rhode Island men, whose prior convictions include a 2015 felony assault with a deadly weapon for Gromkiewicz and a 1995 murder for Lambert, is scheduled for September 29, per NBC Boston.
As the community continues grappling with the echo of Da Luz's untimely death, the extensive investigative efforts exhibit technological advancements utilized in criminal investigations to uncover even the most intricate of details and bring those responsible to justice. In a cruel twist of fate, Da Luz's life was brutally cut short, along with that of her unborn child, but the painstaking work of law enforcement offers us a glimpse into the complexities of the criminal justice system's pursuit of truth and accountability.
