For Immediate Release: January 11, 2008       

                            
Contact: Corey Welford/ Jessica Venezia 617-679-6522

Pring-Wilson Pleads Guilty To Manslaughter Charge

CAMBRIDGE – Middlesex District Attorney Gerry Leone’s office informed the public today that Alexander Pring-Wilson, age 29, formerly of Somerville, has pleaded guilty to a charge of involuntary manslaughter in connection with the death of Michael Colono, age 18, of Cambridge in April 2003.

Pring-Wilson entered his guilty plea today in Middlesex Superior Court in Cambridge. Superior Court Judge Christopher Muse sentenced Pring-Wilson to two years to two years and one day in State Prison.

“With today’s plea, Alexander Pring-Wilson has admitted his guilt and his responsibility for the unlawful killing and tragic stabbing death of Michael Colono,” District Attorney Leone said. “Our thoughts remain with Michael’s family and friends who have had to relive these tragic events for the past four years and endure the uncertainty of two trials. Today’s conviction brings finality and ensures that uncertainty is now over.”

On Saturday, April 12, 2003, at approximately 1:45 a.m., Colono and two friends, one male and one female, were sitting in a vehicle near the corner of Western Avenue and Howard Street in Cambridge.  After a brief verbal exchange with Colono, Pring-Wilson approached the vehicle and opened its door, at which point Colono exited the car.  A brief verbal and physical altercation between Colono and Pring-Wilson ensued.  Pring-Wilson then stabbed an unarmed Colono several times during the course of the altercation. 

Afterward, friends of Colono, noticing he was having difficulty breathing and was bleeding, drove him to Boston. Boston EMS then transported him to Beth-Israel Deaconess Medical Center. 

At approximately 1:52 a.m. on April 12, Cambridge Police responded to a 911 call reporting a stabbing in the vicinity of Western Avenue and Jay Street.  At the scene, they found no victim; however, they did speak briefly with Pring-Wilson, who appeared to be intoxicated at the time.  Shortly thereafter, Cambridge Police were notified by Boston and Brookline Police that Beth-Israel Deaconess Medical Center was treating a stabbing victim who had been transported there from Cambridge. 

Colono was pronounced dead at the hospital at approximately 3:15 a.m.  The Office of the State Medical Examiner (ME) completed an autopsy on Colono later that day.  The ME found the cause of death to be multiple stab wounds and ruled the death a homicide.

Cambridge Police and State Police assigned to the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office immediately commenced an investigation into the circumstances surrounding Colono’s death. At approximately 8:30 a.m. on April 12, Cambridge Police arrested Pring-Wilson in Cambridge without incident. 

During the course of the investigation, it was determined that blood matching the victim’s DNA profile was found on the defendant’s clothes and on a knife at his apartment the next morning. Pring-Wilson also gave several inconsistent statements to police as to the events of that evening and his role in it - including initially, and falsely, claiming that he was just a bystander to the incident.

Pring-Wilson was arraigned on April 14, 2003, in the Cambridge District Court, before Judge Roanne Sragow.  He pleaded not guilty, and was ordered held without bail at a subsequent bail hearing on April 18 before Judge Severlin Singleton.        
A Middlesex Grand Jury returned a first-degree murder indictment on May 6, 2003.  Pring-Wilson was arraigned in Middlesex Superior Court on May 13, 2003, before Judge Geraldine Hines. At arraignment, he pleaded not guilty and his bail was set at $400,000, with a number of strict probation conditions, including that he be placed on an electronic monitoring bracelet and remain under house arrest in the event that he posted bail.  Bail was posted on Pring-Wilson’s behalf the following day.
Pring-Wilson was tried on the first-degree murder charge in 2004. The trial began on September 13. On October 14, 2004, a Middlesex Superior Court jury found Pring-Wilson guilty of voluntary manslaughter. Middlesex Superior Court Judge Regina Quinlan sentenced Pring-Wilson to 6-8 years in State Prison.

Judge Quinlan ordered a retrial of Pring-Wilson on June 23, 2005. The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court affirmed that decision on April 10, 2007.

At Pring-Wilson’s second trial, which ran from November 5 - December 3, 2007, a Middlesex Superior Court jury returned deadlocked and a mistrial was declared by Judge Christopher Muse.

The trial team assigned to case is Assistant District Attorneys Adrienne Lynch and John Verner. The victim witness advocate is Dora Quiroz.

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