Third party to investigate how Lawrence police handled report of missing teen

LAWRENCE, Mass. — The Lawrence mayor has built a team for a third party investigation into the police department's response to the disappearance of a teenager later found dead.

"We acknowledge that the Paolino family and the community have concerns, and we are listening to them," said Mayor Dan Rivera.

Lee Manuel Viloria-Paolino, 16, went missing on November 18 and his body was recovered nearly two weeks later on the bank of the Merrimack River. A suspect, 15-year-old Mathew Borges, has been charged with murder.

Lee's family has said that he was unfairly profiled as a runaway because they are a poor, Hispanic family.

And that's my pain," said Lee's grandmother Ivelisse Cornielle last Saturday. "That's my pain, because since the beginning they were not paying attention to us. Maybe they could save him."

Rivera says the department says they followed procedure and he believes them. Former Rhode Island mayor Angel Taveras,  Boston Police Deputy Superintendent Norma Ayala-Leong, lawyer Mark Berthiaume, and former FBI Special Agent W. Dennis Aiken form the independent committee who will look into the case and the police department's process.

"We want a third party that is independent...who knows these communities," said Rivera.

Rivera said that aside from Lee's case, the group will look at the changes Chief James Fitzpatrick has implemented into the department within the last year and ways to improve the department, including police and community relations.

There will also be community meetings with the police and school departments to allow for open dialogue, said Rivera. Rivera and Fitzpatrick are also developing a plan to better fight crime in the city.

"To those who are conceded and feel that our streets are not safe, we hear you too," he said.

Wednesday night, two city councilors called for Fitzpatrick's resignation, a move that Rivera says is purely political.

"Anyone who has any commonsense says - that we put in you 14 months ago, we expect you are going to right the ship of decades of neglect? It's inappropriate," said Rivera.

One of the city councilors, Councilor Modesto Maldonado, is announcing his run for mayor Thursday night, said Rivera, and he thinks it makes all his recent actions political.

"We we've been trying to figure out how we got to this place with this terrible crime, he's been trying to figure out how to take advantage of this," said Rivera.

Rivera reassured people that the Lawrence Police Department will help all its citizens and that people shouldn’t hesitate asking them for help.

The third party investigation will begin after Lee’s funeral, which is scheduled for Friday.

Cox Media Group