


A Norfolk Superior Court jury has gone a second day without a verdict in the case of the 25-year-old man charged with the murder of Weymouth Police Sgt. Michael Chesna, 42, and bystander Vera Adams, 77, nearly five years ago.
Emanuel Lopes, 25, faces a total of 11 charges. In addition to the murder charges, he stands accused of attempted murder, weapons, assault and other charges. Lopes has pleaded not guilty.
Jurors received the case on Wednesday, and continued to deliberate on Thursday.
At opening arguments three weeks ago on June 8, prosecutor Greg Connor outlined the day of July 14, 2018, and the horrific scene early the next morning that would result in the deaths of Chesna and Adams, who was sitting on her porch nearby as the violence unfolded.
Connors said at the start of the trial that on that summer day, Lopes was getting along with his friend he was staying with, Garret Hunt, along with Hunt’s girlfriend Kim Moreia, and Lopes’s girlfriend Mary Cronin. Later that night, Lopes picked up a call from a man who had previously been involved with Cronin.
That call would shift his mood and end the socializing, Hunt and Moreia testified at the first day of trial.
As the night turned into early morning, Lopes took Cronin’s white BMW and crashed into another vehicle and fled the scene. Chesna responded to 911 calls for an erratic driver and a man throwing rocks.
When Chesna located Lopes, he saw the man with a large rock in his hands and ordered him to drop it. Instead, Lopes threw the rock at Chesna’s head and then grabbed the officer’s gun, shooting Chesna multiple times, and also shooting at Adams, according to previous reporting.
Connor and defense attorney Larry Tipton pitted their arguments on culpability. Tipton said his client has suffered from mental illness exacerbated by marijana use.
Jurors are expected to continue deliberations on Friday.