New York man held without bail in connection with 1993 death of Ayer teenager

A New York man pleaded not guilty to charges related to the 1993 shooting death of an Ayer teenager in Fitchburg in Worcester Superior Court Friday, two months after a Gardner man did the same.

Robert D'Lucca, 49, was charged with one count of murder as well as assault with a weapon with intent to kill, assault with a dangerous weapon, carrying a firearm without a license and possession of ammunition without an FID card. Gardner man Lawrence Calafell, 51, was also indicted on those charges, according to Worcester County Prosecutor Joseph Early Jr.'s office in a March news release.

When D'Lucca appeared in court Friday, the Brooklyn man stood behind a door, the Telegram & Gazette reported. D'Lucca pleaded not guilty and was ordered held without bail, a spokesperson for Early's office told MassLive.

After 30 years, “witnesses' memories change, people change,” D'Lucca's defense attorney Laurel Singer said in court Friday, the Telegram wrote.

He is expected to return to court June 7 for a pretrial conference. Calafell is also expected to appear in court that day, according to the Telegram.

The two men are accused of shooting into a car parked on Daniels Street with three people inside on Nov. 25, 1993, according to the district attorney's office. Deondray Atwood, 15, of Fitchburg, was shot several times during the incident and died from his injuries.

Another passenger in the car was shot multiple times, but survived, the prosecutor's office said. The driver of the car was not injured.

D'Lucca was indicted in the 1993 shooting but did not stand trial because he was arrested in New York on separate murder charges, the prosecutor's office said. He is serving time at Sing Sing Correctional Center, a maximum security prison in Ossining, New York.