June 18, 2025 – Springfield, Massachusetts – On May 14, 2025, the Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) has upheld the first-degree murder conviction of Lee Manuel Rios, affirming the jury’s original verdict of murder with deliberate premeditation and extreme atrocity or cruelty in the 2015 murder of Kenneth Lopez, 24, of Springfield. The Court’s decision also rejected the defendant’s appeal and denied his motion for a new trial.

Rios was convicted by a Hampden County Superior Court jury in 2018 following a trial that revealed a carefully orchestrated plan to ambush and execute the victim, rooted in internal gang conflict and personal retaliation. The murder occurred in the early morning hours of March 24, 2015, in an alley off Dwight Street in Springfield.

The SJC’s decision found no merit in Rios’s multiple post-conviction claims, including challenges to the admissibility of ShotSpotter forensic data, suppression of audio recordings, and the handling of cell phone evidence. The Court also dismissed the defendant’s claim of newly discovered evidence and allegations of ineffective assistance of counsel, concluding there was overwhelming evidence supporting the conviction.

Evidence at trial showed that Rios lured the victim out, believing they were meeting to reconcile, then shot him multiple times from behind with a .38 caliber revolver. The victim’s body was discovered the following morning. Rios’s actions were supported by witness testimony, forensic findings, corroborating audio recordings, and statements made by the defendant in letters, prison conversations, and recorded confessions. Rios would also attempt to conceal evidence through associates during this case.

Hampden District Attorney Anthony D. Gulluni stated, “This case involved a calculated and cold-blooded murder. The Court’s decision affirms the just outcome delivered by the jury and, we hope, is another step toward closure of the criminal justice process for the victim’s family. I commend and thank Assistant District Attorney Travis Lynch for his outstanding work on this appeal.”

Rios remains sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.