Braintree Murder Defendants Want Case Dismissed

BRAINTREE, MA — Three people charged in connection to the killing of 19-year-old Reinia Rodriguez in a Braintree motel two years ago filed motions on Thursday to have the case dropped. According to the defense, the state's arguments against the defendants are based on hearsay, the Patriot Ledger reported.

Kentavious Coleman, and Kenyonte Galmore, and Juana Rivera, asked a Norfolk Superior Court judge to drop the charges against them. Rivera was charged in April 2018 with first-degree murder, assault with intent to murder, unarmed robbery, kidnapping, conspiracy, human sex trafficking, and prostitution. Coleman and Galmore were charged with murder, unarmed robbery, kidnapping, conspiracy to commit murder and conspiracy to commit unarmed robbery. Judge Thomas Connors took the request under advisement for the time being, the Patriot Ledger reported. The defendants will return to court on March 29.

Rodriguez was found dead, nude from the waist up, and bound with cell phone cables in a hotel room at the Braintree Hyatt Place on June 22, 2017, prosecutors said. that she was brought into sex trafficking operation by Rivera, who told Rodriquez that she could make a lot of money, according to court documents. Rivera and Rodriguez, along with others, ran ads on Backpage.com with the intent of luring clients to hotel rooms to rob them, prosecutors said.

Authorities said Rivera, Coleman, and Galmore went to the hotel to rob Rodriguez. Prosecutors said Rivera told an acquaintance that Rodriguez struggled, so they had to smother her until she died.

The defendants were seen entering the hotel room at 1:37 a.m., and leaving less than 10 minutes later, according to court documents. Rodriguez's body was discovered hours later.