A Rhode Island jury has found 31-year-old Karel Martinez-Scarlet guilty of first-degree murder in the 2021 shooting death of Keshaudas Spence, a 29-year-old former college football standout who was gunned down in the passenger seat of a parked car on Winthrop Avenue in Pawtucket. The verdict, delivered after a month-long Superior Court trial, ended the trial in a case spanning roughly five years; sentencing remains pending.
Spence was shot in the head during the early morning hours of June 26, 2021, after he, Martinez-Scarlet and several other men spent the night moving between locations in Providence before ending up at the Winthrop Avenue apartment complex in Pawtucket, according to the Rhode Island Attorney General's Office, which said prosecutors used video surveillance to trace the group's movements across city lines. Officers responded to a 911 call about a possible shooting and found Spence in a parked car with a gunshot wound to the head. He was rushed to Rhode Island Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Spence grew up in Roxbury, Massachusetts, and went on to become the all-time leading rusher at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Connecticut, playing from 2011 through 2014 and finishing his collegiate career with 3,475 rushing yards before trying out for NFL teams including the Green Bay Packers, according to the Fall River Reporter. That record and his brief brush with professional football made him a recognizable name well beyond Pawtucket.
Surveillance Footage and Cell Records Built the Case
Detectives identified Martinez-Scarlet as the suspect using witness statements and surveillance footage, per WPRI.com, which showed him opening fire toward the car carrying Spence before getting into another vehicle and leaving the apartment complex. State prosecutors also presented cellular forensic records placing Martinez-Scarlet's mobile phone at the Winthrop Avenue crime scene at the exact time shots were fired into Spence's vehicle, according to Noticias Rhode Island, which reported the tower data matched footage of the shooter fleeing in a separate car.
Martinez-Scarlet admitted to shooting a firearm outside the apartment complex but did not admit to killing Spence, according to Attorney General Peter Neronha. A Rhode Island Statewide Grand Jury had formally indicted him on October 20, 2021, on charges including murder, conspiracy, discharging a firearm during a crime of violence, and carrying an unlicensed pistol, with additional weapons counts tied to a separate August 2021 arrest in Providence, per the state Attorney General's Office.
A Forensic Lab Scandal Stalled the Case for Years
A Pause in Firearms Testing Complicated the Case The path to trial was anything but straightforward. Firearms testing at the Rhode Island State Crime Laboratory was paused, as Forensic Magazine reported.
The month-long trial was prosecuted by Assistant Attorney General Timothy Healy and Special Assistant Attorney General Alyse Antone Smyth before Superior Court Justice Robert D. Krause, a veteran jurist who handles major criminal trials, per the Fall River Reporter's account. The jury ultimately found Martinez-Scarlet guilty of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, discharging a firearm while committing a crime of violence, and carrying a pistol without a license, according to WPRI.com.
Mandatory Life Sentences Loom, But No Date Is Set
Under Rhode Island General Laws, a first-degree murder conviction carries a mandatory statutory sentence of life imprisonment, with judges given no discretion to impose anything less, according to Justia Law. Martinez-Scarlet's sentencing date has not yet been set, WPRI.com reported.
Neronha said firearms falling into the hands of people willing to use them can lead to tragedy, and that gun-related deaths leave families mourning the loss of loved ones. He added that he hopes the verdict provides Spence's family some comfort, according to WPRI.com's reporting.
Pawtucket Police Chief Tina Goncalves issued a statement after the verdict commending local detectives and state prosecutors, saying the conviction sends a strong message against gun violence in the city, per Noticias Rhode Island. Pawtucket police and state officials were involved in the investigation and prosecution.
