A bouncer at a Boston bar charged with fatally stabbing a Marine Corps veteran celebrating the St. Patrick’s Day weekend has been held without bail.
Alvaro Larrama, 38, pleaded not guilty to murder Monday in the stabbing death of Daniel Martinez, 23, outside the Sons of Boston bar on Saturday, according to a statement from the office of Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden.
Martinez had been in town from the Chicago area visiting friends.
“He was really excited to go there to an Irish pub for St. Patrick’s Day” with his friends, his older sister, Micaela Martinez, told The Chicago Sun-Times.
Daniel Martinez and a friend were waiting in line outside the bar where Larrama worked as a bouncer just before 7 p.m., prosecutor Caitlin Grasso said in court.
Surveillance video shows Martinez and Larrama exchanging words and investigators later learned that Larrama had denied Martinez and his friend entrance, the prosecutor said.
Martinez and his friend walked away but were pursued by Larrama, the prosecutor said. The video then shows Martinez raising his left hand as if to defend himself, then striking Larrama in the head with an aluminum beer bottle, before Larrama stabbed the victim in the chest, the prosecutor said.
Martinez was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead. He had recently been discharged after a four-year tour in the Marines, authorities said.
“The heartbreak for Mr. Martinez’s family, and for all those who knew and served with him, is incalculable,” Hayden said in a statement. “This is also heartbreaking for Boston, because it represents an image of the city that does not truly reflect who we are.”
An email seeking comment was left with Larrama’s attorney.
Martinez left the Corps at the rank of sergeant, The Chicago Sun-Times reported. His most recent assignment was the 3rd Assault Amphibious Battalion, 1st Marine Division, at Camp Pendleton, California, the Corps told the outlet.
