Delafuentes sentenced to life in prison for Haverhill murder
Jun. 30—SALEM, Mass. — Convicted of second degree murder, Hayden Delafuentes of Haverhill was sentenced to life in prison with parole eligibility after 25 years on Wednesday afternoon.
A jury convicted Delafuentes, 25, of killing Matthew Sabatino, 28, in a May 2017 incident.
Delafuentes was also sentenced to two, additional five-to-seven terms stemming from a violent stabbing attack on another man, Daniel Doore, the same night.
Pointing to Delafuentes extensive, violent criminal background, Judge Thomas Dreschler called him a "dangerous individual" who failed to rehabilitate himself after convictions on previous crimes.
"One person is dead for absolutely no reason ... This is just a wanton, intentional violence," said Dreschler, during the sentencing hearing in Salem Superior Court.
Delafuentes, who had been sitting among this defense attorneys, was immediately taken back into custody by court officers after his sentences were read aloud in the courtroom.
After deliberating for roughly six hours, a jury on May 15 found Hayden Delafuentes guilty of stabbing Sabatino on Washington Street in Haverhill four years ago.
Sabatino was stabbed through the left ventricle of his heart May 28, 2017.
He died 10 days later at a Boston hospital after slipping into a coma.
Delafuentes had been charged with first-degree murder. But following four days of testimony, jurors in Salem Superior Court convicted him on the lesser charge of second-degree murder.
Delafuentes was also found guilty of armed assault with intent to kill and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon causing serious bodily injury stemming from a stabbing attack on Doore the same night.
Doore was stabbed five times but survived. He testified during the trial, as did Sabatino's fiancee, Courtney Trussell.
This is a developing story. A full report will appear online and in print versions of The Eagle-Tribune.
Follow staff reporter Jill Harmacinski on Twitter @EagleTribJill.
