After more than five decades in prison, a Dorchester man convicted in the 1974 killing of a toddler is set to reenter the world under tight supervision and in failing health.
The Massachusetts Parole Board voted unanimously on March 17 to grant parole to 71-year-old Edward Starling, who was convicted in 1976 in the death of 22-month-old Laquita Prout. The board ordered that Starling be released to a skilled nursing facility and placed under standard parole conditions, including a ban on drugs and alcohol.
The Boston Globe first reported the decision, noting that the board said Starling had “served 50 years” and made “considerable progress” since earlier parole hearings. According to the same report, the ruling also says Laquita’s mother continues to support Starling’s release, and the board directed that he be moved to a skilled nursing home within two weeks of its March decision.
The Parole Board’s written life-sentence decision, posted by the state, traces the case history and medical findings, including an autopsy that described Laquita’s death as the result of one or more “very severe blows” to the chest or abdomen. According to the decision released by the Massachusetts Parole Board, Starling was 19 at the time of the killing, was arraigned the day after Laquita’s death, and was released on $10,000 cash bail before fleeing. He was arrested in Newark, N.J., on January 18, 1976, living under the alias Marvin Morgan, and was convicted of second-degree murder in December 1976.
A Case That Stretched Decades
Starling’s conviction survived years of legal challenges. In 1981, the state’s highest court, the Supreme Judicial Court, upheld the second-degree murder verdict after reviewing the trial record and the defense’s arguments.
The court’s opinion in Commonwealth v. Starling recounts the medical examiner’s findings, including liver lacerations and internal hemorrhaging consistent with severe blunt-force trauma. The opinion also notes that Starling left Boston after his arraignment and was later caught in New Jersey, living under an assumed name.
What The Board Ordered And The Parole Conditions
In its most recent ruling, the board ordered that Starling be transferred to a skilled nursing facility and placed under standard parole supervision. Conditions include abstaining from drugs and alcohol and complying with all supervision requirements.
The panel concluded that Starling has “significant medical needs” and will require assisted living support, as reported by The Boston Globe. The decision follows a string of prior parole hearings and denials across several decades.
Why This Matters Now
Starling’s release is unfolding against a backdrop of shifting parole practices in Massachusetts, particularly for people serving life sentences.
Boston.com reported in March that parole hearings in life-sentence cases increased after the state’s Mattis decision, and that the Parole Board’s life-sentence hearing parole rate climbed in 2024. Observers say factors such as medical releases, longer stretches of incarceration, and changing eligibility rules are reshaping who appears before the board and who ultimately gets out.
For Starling, the immediate focus now shifts to logistics: the Parole Board and the receiving facility will coordinate his placement and supervision plan, with the board directing that he be transferred within two weeks of its March 17 ruling. The full decision and related documents are available from the Massachusetts Parole Board for anyone who wants to wade into the details.
