In the Lowell community, Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan and Lowell Police Superintendent Greg Hudon announced the arrest of a suspect in the grim shooting that claimed the life of 19-year-old Sakdara Khoeun. According to the Middlesex District Attorney's Office, the alleged assailant, identified as Dustin Defrietas, 19, of Lowell, has been apprehended in California after a diligent cross-country manhunt.

Khoeun died following a gunshot wound at a spirited party on November 22nd. Friends frantically rushed him to a local hospital; he was pronounced dead later that day. The police determined that the victim was shot at a party on Westford Street. Based on the information gathered as part of the ongoing investigation, an arrest warrant was granted for Dustin Defrietas, officials revealed, on charges to include assault and battery with a firearm, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon causing serious bodily injury, possession of a firearm, and discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a dwelling.

An autopsy by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner later confirmed that Khoeun's cause of death was a solitary gunshot wound to the abdomen. The Lowell Police and Massachusetts State Police have conducted a thorough search and investigation of the Westford Street residence.

Defrietas, the accused, was snatched up by Stockton, California, police earlier this week, and he is soon expected to be transported back to Massachusetts for arraignment at a still-undecided future date. 

Massachusetts State Police, assigned to the Middlesex District Attorney's Office, and Lowell Police continue to delve deeper into the case.