Please note: An indictment, information, or complaint is merely an allegation. The U.S. Constitution guarantees that a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.
Attorney General Peter F. Kilmartin and Colonel Steven G. O'Donnell, Superintendent of the Rhode Island State Police and Commissioner of Public Safety, today announced the arrest and indictment of a fifth individual in the murder of Kerry Mello (age 36), of Cranston.
On July 20, 2016, the Statewide Grand Jury returned a secret and sealed indictment in connection with the death of Kerry Mello in August 2015 charging Louis Geremia (age 62), of 36 Stone Avenue, Warwick with murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and mutilation of a dead human body.
Geremia was arrested by members of the Rhode Island State Police, the Violent Fugitive Task Force, and the United States Marshals yesterday at his residence without incident, and held overnight at the RI State Police headquarters in North Scituate. He was arraigned today in Kent County Superior Court before Superior Court Justice Joseph A. Montalbano and ordered held without bail. The Court set down July 28, 2016 for determination of attorney and August 4, 2016 for a bail hearing.
Kerry Mello was last seen on August 10, 2015 and reported missing to the Cranston Police shortly after. On August 19, 2015, a torso was located in Massachusetts waters near Westport. Two days later, two severed legs were discovered on a beach in Little Compton near the Massachusetts border. The remains were later identified as Kerry Mello.
On April 20, 2016, the Statewide Grand Jury returned indictments against Jamie Barriera, 35, of Louisiana Avenue, Warwick; Francisco Concepcion, 36, of Louisiana Avenue, Warwick; Albert Barriera, 61, the father of Jamie Barriera, of Shannon Drive, Warwick; and Graig Bustillo, 39, of Adelaide Avenue, Providence. All four defendants were charged with murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and mutilation of a dead human body.
Bustillo pleaded guilty on May 20, 2016 to conspiracy to commit murder for his role in the incident. He remains held without bail pending sentencing. Jamie Barriera, Albert Barriera, and Francisco Concepcion remain are also being held without bail.
The investigation revealed that Jamie Barriera was involved in growing marijuana. At some point in the summer of 2015, a significant quantity of marijuana and currency was stolen from him. Kerry Mello, an associate of Jamie Barriera, was suspected by him to have been the culprit.
As a result, the investigation revealed that Jamie Barriera lured Mello to Albert Barriera's home on Shannon Drive in Warwick, where he was killed and dismembered. His body was disposed of at sea.
This remains an ongoing investigation.
The investigation is being led by the Rhode Island State Police, specifically Detective Adam Kennett, with assistance from the Massachusetts State Police, Cranston and Warwick Police Departments, and the Rhode Island Office of Attorney General. Assistant Attorney General James Baum and Special Assistant Attorney General Timothy Healy are prosecuting the case on behalf of the Office of Attorney General.