Prosecutors said video showed a group chasing and attacking 25-year-old Eduardo Rózales López before his death after surgery.
CHELSEA, Mass. — An 18-year-old man was held without bail Friday after prosecutors accused him of fatally stabbing a Chelsea man near Chestnut Street and Everett Avenue, where police said officers responding to a 6:45 p.m. call found multiple people hurt and a neighborhood shaken.
Sergio Josué Castellanos was arraigned in Chelsea District Court on a first-degree murder charge in the killing of Eduardo Rózales López, 25, of Chelsea. Prosecutors said the case centers on street surveillance video, bloody clothing and a machete recovered after the attack. The arraignment drew emotional reactions from López’s relatives, who said more people took part than the two men charged so far. Investigators have said the case remains active, with Chelsea detectives and Massachusetts State Police continuing to examine the attack and whether additional arrests will follow.
Police said the violence began Thursday evening in the area of Chestnut Street and Everett Avenue. Prosecutors told the court that investigators reviewed city camera footage showing a group of five people chasing López through the neighborhood. In court, prosecutors said Castellanos could be seen moving toward López and making a stabbing motion as López was on the ground. Officers later found Castellanos and several other males behind a fence at a nearby home on Chestnut Street, according to prosecutors. Castellanos had a wound to his leg and had changed out of the clothing seen on the video, prosecutors said, adding that those clothes were recovered nearby. A black machete with staining on the blade also was found as police worked the scene. Castellanos pleaded not guilty and was allowed to remain out of public view during the hearing.
Authorities said two people were injured in the attack, López and Castellanos. Prosecutors said López suffered stab wounds to the neck and torso and was treated at the scene before being taken to Massachusetts General Hospital. He later died from his injuries early Friday morning. A Suffolk County prosecutor said the recorded video showed a pursuit that continued across several blocks before the confrontation turned deadly. Castellanos’ lawyer, Brian Kelley, challenged the strength of the evidence in court and argued that no knife could be clearly seen in the footage prosecutors described. Kelley also said a police report suggested someone else may have had possession of a knife, a point he said needed more scrutiny before the case moved forward. The judge declined a defense request for release with GPS monitoring and ordered Castellanos held without bail.
The case quickly widened beyond the single murder charge because relatives of López said the attack involved more people than had yet been charged. Family members told reporters that López had just cashed a check before he was confronted outside. Their account has added urgency to questions about what started the encounter and whether robbery played any role. Prosecutors, however, did not lay out a clear motive in open court Friday, and police have not publicly described what led up to the chase. That leaves several central questions unresolved, including why López was targeted, what role each person in the group may have played and whether any juveniles were involved. One other man, identified in local reports as Jose Mancia or Jose Mancie, was arraigned Friday on a trespassing charge tied to the broader investigation and was released on his own recognizance.
The attack stunned residents in a dense part of Chelsea where homes, corner businesses and traffic corridors sit close together. Neighbors described the response Thursday night as a large police presence that stretched over several blocks. Saul Alicea, a nearby resident, said the killing felt especially jarring because neighbors did not expect that kind of violence there. Another resident, Shauniece White, said the blood left at the scene made the attack feel immediate and personal for people living nearby. Their comments reflected a larger concern in the neighborhood that the violence was both sudden and public, unfolding in a place where families regularly walk and shop. Chelsea Police Chief Keith Houghton said detectives and state police were using all available resources on what he called a very serious incident, a sign that authorities were treating the case as both a homicide investigation and a broader public safety concern.
Friday’s court hearing made plain that the legal case is only in its first stage. Castellanos was arraigned on first-degree murder, the most serious charge announced so far, and his case is expected back in court in late April. Prosecutors have not publicly detailed whether they will seek indictments against others or add charges as investigators sort through the video, physical evidence and witness accounts. Police have said the investigation remains fluid, language that often signals that more interviews, forensic testing and charging decisions are still ahead. For López’s family, that timeline means more waiting after a day that already brought anger and grief inside the courtroom. For investigators, the next steps are expected to include identifying everyone seen in the chase, matching weapons and clothing to the footage and determining whether the final charging picture reaches beyond the defendants already named.
Outside court, the emotional center of the story was López’s family. Relatives and supporters said they were frustrated that Castellanos could hide his face during the hearing while López’s wife and sister listened to prosecutors describe the attack. A family supporter, Carrie Hernandez, said the family believed the accused should have faced the room openly. Reports from relatives also said López had come to the United States from Guatemala about seven years ago and leaves behind a wife and a 2-year-old son. Those details turned the hearing from a routine arraignment into a public display of mourning and anger. By the end of the day, the family’s message was consistent: they believe five people were involved, they want each role accounted for and they do not think the case feels complete yet, even with a murder charge already filed.
The case stood Friday with one defendant jailed without bail, one related defendant released on a trespassing charge and investigators still tracing who else was involved. The next major public step is Castellanos’ return to court in late April as police and prosecutors continue to sort through evidence from the Chelsea attack.
Author note: Last updated March 24, 2026.