Lawrence Beheading: Mayor Defends Police Amid Calls for Chief's Resignation

LAWRENCE, MA — Two Lawrence city councilors this week called for Police Chief James Fitzpatrick's resignation after a 16-year-old Lawrence High School student was beheaded and dumped in the Merrimack River. Police said Lee Manuel Viloria-Paulino was murdered by classmate Mathew Borges, 15.

Viloria-Paulino's family criticized the police investigation. The boy went missing November 19. Borges lured Viloria-Paulino to the river near McCabe Court to smoke marijuana, prosecutors said. Borges then stabbed and beheaded Viloria-Paulino and dumped his body in the water, prosecutors said. A woman walking her dog found the body December 1.

Viloria-Paulino's family claims police treated his disappearance as a runaway case instead of something more serious.

"If it was their kid would they have waited two weeks to look for him?” Viloria-Paulino's mother told FOX 25.

City Councilors Modesto Maldonado and Brian de Pena called for the police chief's resignation. Mayor Dan Rivera strongly rebuked the pair Thursday, saying they are part of a "group of people who would use the tragic death of a 16-year-old to advance their agendas even before the poor child is buried."

"The Lawrence Police Department took this case seriously from the onset," Fitzpatrick said in a statement Friday.

Fitzpatrick said Borges "misled" investigators in the days following Viloria-Paulino's disappearance. He added the department is "open to critique and review."

• This story will be updated

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Lawrence Teen Found Decapitated in Merrimack River

Photo: Lee Manuel Viloria-Paulino. (Credit: Lawrence police)