Mass. mother was stabbed to death during robbery. Her killer just got a second chance
A Massachusetts man once sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole has been given parole.
Rolando Rodriguez was convicted of first-degree murder for the death of 32-year-old Kenia Melo when he was 18. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
However, in January 2024, the Supreme Judicial Court ruled in Commonwealth v. Mattis that sentencing people, ages 18 through 20 at the time of their offense, to life without the possibility of parole was unconstitutional and amounted to "cruel and unusual punishment."
Massachusetts was the first state in the country to transform the law, experts said.
"Essentially, the brains of what we are calling 'late adolescents' or 'emerging adults' function very much like juveniles," Northampton attorney Paul Rudof, one of the lawyers who successfully challenged life sentences for individuals aged 18 to 20, told The Republican .
There were 210 cases that fell into the Mattis decision across Massachusetts, including Rodriguez.
He went in front of the parole board for the first time on May 7.
During the hearing, the Massachusetts Parole Board talked with Rodriguez about what happened on April 13, 1997.
Melo had been working behind the counter of the store she co-owned with her husband, while her husband slept in the downstairs stockroom and her 7-year-old daughter slept on a comforter beside her.
At about 11:30 a.m., Rodriguez walked inside the store with a butcher knife and demanded money. Melo refused.
He then jumped over the counter and attempted to open the cash register but Melo fought back. The fight woke up her daughter and the two of them attempted to stop Rodriguez from opening the register.
During the fight, Rodriguez slashed Melo across the face with the butcher's knife. He later stabbed her two times in the back.
Melo's husband heard the struggle and ran upstairs to see Rodriguez leaving the store. Melo was taken to the hospital, where she died one hour after the robbery.
During his time incarcerated, he completed more than 50 rehabilitative programs. And he began "investing in his rehabilitative efforts well before the Mattis decision," the parole board noted. He also remained sober and had few disciplinary reports.
Rodriguez is currently housed in lower security at Northeastern Correctional Center (NECC) and is considered exceptionally low risk. He also has a comprehensive re-entry plan, the board wrote in its decision.
But Melo's family and Suffolk County Assistant District Attorney Montez Haywood were against parole.
Still, the parole board had a unanimous vote to give Rodriguez parole. Rodriguez is expected to be released on parole around Nov. 22.
The court's Mattis decision has been devastating for the families of those killed as they are forced to relive the trauma, often going in front of the parole board and the incarcerated individual to make their own case.
Families have described the process as a "nightmare," stating they feel betrayed and that the system is treating murderers as victims while their own pain is ignored. One family member during a previous hearing walked out, feeling as if his side wasn't being fairly heard after the incarcerated individual was told they did a good job.
The parole board has so far granted freedom to more than 25 people, which is a significant majority of those who have had hearings and decisions released.
More on the Massachusetts Parole Board
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