Newsletter Signup
Stay up to date on all the latest news from Boston.com
Man charged with killing Jeremiah Oliver, young boy who went missing in 2013
Oliver, a 5-year-old from Fitchburg, was found dead in a suitcase on the side of a highway in 2014.
More than nine years after Jeremiah Oliver’s body was found in a suitcase on the side of a highway, a man has been arrested and charged with murdering the 5-year-old from Fitchburg.
Alberto Sierra Jr., 32, was arrested on a warrant out of Worcester Superior Court, the Worcester County District Attorney’s office announced Wednesday. Sierra, who was the boyfriend of Oliver’s mother, is facing one murder charge and another for disinterring a body.
Sierra is expected to be arraigned Thursday in Worcester Superior Court.
Oliver went missing in September 2013. His death and the investigation surrounding it led to intense scrutiny of the state’s Department of Children and Families and Commissioner Olga Roche’s resignation.
Advertisement:
Sierra was initially charged with kidnapping and assaulting Oliver. He pleaded guilty in 2017 to assaulting Oliver’s mother and siblings. Prosecutors said at the time that they were dropping the previous charges so that double jeopardy would not prevent future homicide prosecution, The Boston Globe reported. Sierra was sentenced to six to seven years in state prison.
Elsa Oliver, the boy’s mother, pleaded guilty to abusing her surviving children in 2017. Prosecutors also dropped charges against Elsa for her alleged role in her son’s death. Prosecutors said at the time that a homicide investigation was ongoing and that dropping the charges was necessary to prevent double jeopardy. Both Sierra and Elsa Oliver were released from prison in 2020.
Advertisement:
Elsa, who battled mental health issues, was forced to move her family around frequently during Jeremiah’s childhood, the Globe reported. She met Sierra in the spring of 2013. Sierra’s previous girlfriend had filed restraining orders against him twice, alleging that he hit her hard enough to leave bruises.
After a series of reportedly troubling incidents at home, DCF representatives received approval to take custody of Elsa’s three children in December 2013, but by then Jeremiah was already missing. Jeremiah’s sister told police that Sierra threatened Elsa with a knife, and once knocked Jeremiah off a toilet. She also described once seeing Jeremiah with a bloody pinky finger, as if it might have been severed, according to the Globe.
A DCF social worker was found to have skipped eight mandatory monthly visits with Jeremiah, which partly coincided with the time in which he went missing. At least five infants or preschoolers whose families were being monitored by the DCF died during Roche’s tenure, the Globe reported.
Jeremiah’s body was found off Interstate 190 in Sterling in 2014. His death was ruled a homicide in 2016.
To comment, please create a screen name in your profile
To comment, please verify your email address
Conversation
This discussion has ended. Please join elsewhere on Boston.com