One found guilty of October 2014 murder

Mar 17, 2016

Sixteen months ago, 23-year-old Dwayne “Tuttie” Borges was stabbed to death in broad daylight. On Thursday, one of the four young men charged in connection with his murder was found guilty.

Demetrius Goshen, 19 (then 18), of Wareham, was found guilty of voluntary manslaughter in a five-day trial at the Brockton Superior Court, according to Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy J. Cruz. He was indicted for the Oct. 8, 2014 murder in January of 2015.

Borges brother, Carlton “CJ” Borges is unhappy about the verdict. He believes there was enough evidence to convict Goshen of outright murder, and doesn’t understand the jury’s decision.

“They made it seem like they had all this evidence – they got it on camera, they have the knife, and everything,” Borges said. “It just doesn’t seem like anybody was behind me or my family.”

Voluntary manslaughter only carries a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, whereas murder carries a sentence of life in prison.

“He is probably going to be my age, but the time he gets out,” the 26-year-old said of Goshen. “He’ll still be a young man. He isn’t going to learn anything – ‘Hey, I got away with murder.’ And he’ll probably do it again.”

Beth Stone from the Plymouth County District Attorney's office said that the jury came away with a different verdict than that with which the office had originally charged Goshen.

"We charged Mr. Goshen with murder and believe that the evidence we presented at trial supported that," Stone said. "The jury agreed that Mr. Goshen was responsible for the murder of Dwayne Borges, but came to a different conclusion on Mr. Goshen’s intent that day."

Deneen Rose organized a peace rally for the community a few days after the stabbing in 2014. She sees it differently than Borges, feeling that “two young lives have been taken.”

“All these young lives are going away – either they’re dead or in jail, so they have no future,” Rose said. “It is really sad that all these families are affected by this. You aren’t going to be able to watch them grow up and have children, because they are no longer here.”

Borges was stabbed six times inside of Cumberland Farms, once to his upper abdomen, once to his lower abdomen, once near his chin, and three times to his chest.

In the Wareham District Court on Oct. 9, 2014, Plymouth County Lead Assistant District Attorney Keara Kelley said that, according to Borges’ girlfriend, Borges saw the four suspects inside prior to entering the store and told her to stay in the car while he went into the store.

She said Borges’ girlfriend then noticed a commotion inside the store and saw the four suspects run out. She then went inside to see Borges leaning over a cooler and bleeding profusely. He was immediately transported to Tobey Hospital before being airlifted to Boston Medical Center where he was pronounced dead.

Witnesses said there was a commotion in the store between Borges and the four suspects before the suspects ran out of the store as Borges lay wounded.

According to Kelley, all four suspects had blood on their hands when apprehended by police. One of the murder suspects, Latroy Hairston, 20 (then 19), told police he heard Goshen say “we got him” as they fled the scene, and that he saw Goshen put something in the bushes near 147 Main St., according to Kelley.

Goshen, along with Jared Frye, 19, Adrian Garcia, 20, and Latroy Hairston, 19, all from Wareham, were arrested later that afternoon and charged with assault with intent to murder.

Hairston had his charges reduced in December 2014 to assault and battery and was released on personal cognizance after having been held on $500,000 cash bail.

Police reported finding a knife in the shrubbery near 147 Main St. with a “dry red and brown substance” on it. The knife was initially found by Michael Thomas, owner of M&D Bait and Tackle at 147 Main St., who described it as a six-inch hunting knife.

Rose recalled coaching Dwayne Borges, Goshen, and the three other young men connected to the murder in junior varsity basketball. Though the young men “all grew up together,” Rose said the stabbing is just another indicator of how the town is growing apart.

“We would always look out for each other, and, nowadays, it’s that no one wants to talk,” Rose said. “Now, we use bats and guns and knives.”

The three other Wareham men involved in the incident, Jared Frye, 21 (then 19), Adrian Garcia 22 (then 20), and Latroy Hairston, 20 (then 19), still face charges as part of the stabbing, the District Attorney’s office said.

Goshen’s sentencing date is April 12.

Even though he knows he can’t do anything about the verdict, Carlton Borges said he hopes his brother, buried in St. Patrick’s Cemetery off Tihonet Road, can at least get a headstone soon. He said he and his mother were told they cannot put a headstone on the grave, because St. Patrick’s Church, which owns the cemetery, donated the plot.

“A year later, he still doesn’t have a stone,” Borges said. “He is probably the only person in there without a stone.”

Because the lot was donated, rather than bought, Maureen Linquist of St. Patrick’s Church said Dwayne Borges cannot have a headstone – or any marker at all – unless someone pays for the plot itself.

“That is what our regulation is,” she said.

Despite the lack of marker, though, she said there is no chance of Dwayne’s grave being dug up to put someone else in there.

“We have records of where everyone is buried,” Lindquist said.