A homeless man was beaten to death as he slept in a Charlestown park. Now a 30-year-old has been indicted for murder.
Clifton Moore, 30, allegedly attacked Joshua Rivera in Ryan Playground.
A Suffolk County grand jury returned a murder indictment against a man accused of beating a 54-year-old homeless man to death with a baseball bat as he slept in a Charlestown park in September, prosecutors announced Wednesday.
Clifton Moore, 30, was charged Tuesday with first-degree murder for the death of Joshua Rivera, who authorities allege Moore attacked on a Ryan Playground bench.
The violent episode played out a month before Moore was arrested in Somerville, where he allegedly assaulted a woman with a baseball bat, according to a statement from the Suffolk Country District Attorney’s Office and Boston police.
“Like too many people, Mr. Rivera was particularly vulnerable as he slept outside with no place to call home,” District Attorney John Pappas said in the statement. “I want to commend the Boston Police detectives and Suffolk prosecutors who committed themselves to speaking for him, and I’m especially grateful to the witnesses who stepped forward to share what they saw and what they knew. They were absolutely critical in helping us build this case.”
Moore was seen by witnesses in the early morning hours of Sept. 6 “wielding a long item, possibly a stick or a bat,” and swinging it down on a park bench that bystanders initially thought was empty, prosecutors said.
Once Moore left, witnesses found Rivera’s body and called first responders, according to officials. Rivera had been struck multiple times in the head and died at the scene.
MBTA security camera footage showed a man, wearing a gray sweatshirt and carrying a backpack and baseball bat, enter the park before the attack and leave approximately a minute and a half later, authorities said.
When he was arrested in Somerville in October, Moore wore a backpack and similar shoes as seen in the video footage, officials said.
Moore is slated to be arraigned in Suffolk Superior Court on Jan 2.
