Jury selection got underway Wednesday in Hampden Superior Court for Kermith D. Alvarez, the 31-year-old Holyoke man charged with murder in connection with a 2023 gunfight that left a newborn baby dead after a stray bullet tore through a city bus and struck his pregnant mother. Alvarez appeared before Judge Jane E. Mulqueen as the lengthy legal process that could determine his fate finally reached trial, more than three years after the shooting on Sargeant and Maple streets.
Alvarez is one of three men charged in the shootout, according to MassLive, which reported that prospective jurors were questioned individually and outside public view Wednesday, and that reporters and members of the public were not permitted to observe that portion of the proceedings. A court officer said media representatives could return once a jury is empaneled, and the outlet noted that jury selection could take several days, with the trial expected to continue through November.
Alvarez was indicted in December 2023 on charges including first-degree murder, armed assault with intent to murder, possession of a loaded machine gun, carrying a firearm without a license, and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon causing serious bodily injury. He pleaded not guilty at his arraignment in January 2024 and has been held without bail at the Franklin County House of Corrections since then. According to an earlier MassLive report, his attorneys have filed notice of intent to use a self-defense claim at trial.
What Prosecutors Say Happened That Night
According to the Hampden District Attorney, gunfire was exchanged among Alvarez, Johnluis Sanchez, and Alejandro Ramos on October 4, 2023, in Holyoke. Prosecutors allege that Sanchez, then 30, and Ramos, then 22, were waiting outside a market for Alvarez, and that Sanchez confronted Alvarez with a firearm as he exited the store. Alvarez, prosecutors say, was armed and returned fire, setting off what they describe as an extended exchange of gunfire between the men.
One of the rounds from that altercation struck a public transportation bus and an uninvolved passenger, the district attorney's office said. The bullet pierced a passing PVTA bus and struck Selena Santana, who was about eight months pregnant and not connected to the dispute between the three men. Doctors delivered Santana's son, Ezekiel, but the infant later died from his injuries.
Co-Defendant Already Convicted and Sentenced
The case against the three men has moved through separate stages. Sanchez stood trial first, and a Hampden County jury convicted him in September, returning unanimous guilty verdicts on three charges after deliberating for two days, per MassLive's coverage of that trial. Jurors found Sanchez, then about 32 or 33, guilty of involuntary manslaughter, carrying a firearm without a license, and possessing a loaded machine gun.
Accounts of Sanchez's sentence differ. The Hampden District Attorney's office said Sanchez was sentenced to 18 to 20 years in state prison for involuntary manslaughter, while MassLive's report on Alvarez's trial states Sanchez received a sentence of more than 20 years. Proceedings against Ramos remain ongoing, and the current status of his case was not detailed beyond that it is still pending.
Alvarez's case was scheduled to begin November 4, 2026, the district attorney's office had previously confirmed, noting it followed Sanchez's trial in the sequence of prosecutions tied to the shooting. With jury selection now underway and expected to stretch across several days, the Holyoke community that watched Sanchez's trial unfold this fall now turns its attention to Alvarez, whose case also concerns baby Ezekiel's death.
