New Bedford man to be sentenced in 2017 gang-related killing

FALL RIVER, Mass. (WLNE) — A New Bedford gang member convicted of second degree murder will be sentenced on Monday.

The Bristol County District Attorney’s Office said 26-year-old Ivan Fontanez will be sentenced in Fall River Superior Court.

Fontanez is charged in the shooting death of Brad Lourenco at Roberto Clemente Park on June 5, 2017.

Keeland Rose pled guilty to an accessory to murder charge in 2019 and was sentenced to serve three to six years in state prison.

Prosecutors said Fontanez and Rose got a ride from Temple Landing to Rivet Street, and then walked to the park.

They said Fontanez fired a gun nine times at a group of people, hitting Lourenco in the back of the head, resulting in his death.

The two then took off and ditched clothing items, which were recovered by investigators and used as DNA evidence. The gun used in the murder was also found hidden on the pedestrian bridge nearby.

Fontanez and Rose were arrested shortly after running away from south end gang members and hopping into the back of a pickup truck, which they had hoped would drive them away.

Prosecutors believe it was an act of retaliation stemming from a shooting that happened about a week before, which hurt Fontanez’s half-brother.