Man arrested after breaking into ex-wife’s Leominster apartment, stabbing her roommate in the chest

LEOMINSTER — On Friday, February 14, 2025, at around 11:17 p.m., Leominster Police Officer Garbrielle Larivee, along with Officers Brett Bourne and Dennis Hatstat, responded to an apartment at 87 Laurel Street after a woman called 911, reporting that her ex-husband was inside with a knife.

(The account and quotations in this article were sourced from the printed Personnel Narrative of Officers Larivee and Bourne and do not reflect any political perspective or personal opinion of News Link Live, which is strictly a business entity.)

“While we were approaching the apartment, there was a woman outside in front of the entrance door, pointing inside, panicking,” Officer Bourne said. “I entered the apartment with the officers on scene, and I noticed three adult men, all pig-piled on top of each other on the staircase. Officer Hatstat and I were able to separate the parties without issue.”

Officer Larivee stated that after Officer Hatstat ordered the men to show their hands and walk down the stairs, she observed a large knife on the floor at the bottom of the stairs and a hammer on the fourth step.

Officer Larivee added that, at this time, Lieutenant Sean Fergueson arrived on scene and did a protective sweep of the apartment with Officer Hatstat and Officer Bourne.

“Another male party, identified as [first name redacted] Dos Santos, was in a bedroom upstairs, sleeping, and he said he has no idea what happened,” Officer Larivee said.

“Two male parties, later identified as Ronaldo Silva Gomes and Welington Souza Silva were placed in handcuffs for officer safety,” Officer Larivee said. Later adding, “I was on the phone with dispatch to get the language line as everyone involved spoke Portuguese. As I began to figure out what happened, Ronaldo was uncuffed.”

Officer Bourne identified the other individual, Jose Afonso DaSilva, and escorted him to the corner of the kitchen so they weren’t as close to the other men involved.

“I was trying to speak to Jose to gather information but due to a language barrier, Jose was not understanding what I was saying,” Officer Bourne said. “I noticed Jose holding his hand to the side of his left torso and making an agonizing facial expression.

Officer Bourne stated that DaSilva began removing his gray hooded jacket, and as he pulled it off, his black long-sleeve undershirt lifted, revealing blood on the left side of his torso and what appeared to be a stab wound just above his rib cage.

“I relayed this information to Officer Donahue who was standing in proximity, and he radioed dispatch to send an ambulance,” Officer Bourne said. “Jose’s wound appeared to be bleeding lightly. At this moment, I sat Jose down at the kitchen table and advised Officer Hatstat that I would be back with some trauma gauze for Jose. At this moment, I went to the cruiser, grabbed a trauma dressing and walked back to the scene. I applied the dressing to Jose’s open stab wound and told Jose to hold it tightly until Leominster Fire arrives for further medical treatment. After a few minutes, Leominster Fire then showed up and provided further aid to Jose. Shortly after, Officer [Sean] Ferguson arrived and told me to hold the scene until Officer [ Jonathan] Ramos arrived.”

While Officer Bourne spoke with DaSilva, Officer Larivee spoke with the woman who called 911.  

“She stated that police were already there that night and made her ex-husband leave the property,” Officer Larivee said. “[The woman] stated that shortly after police left, Welington returned and came in the unlocked front door without permission.”

According to police, Welington Desouza Silva, 40, is a resident of 5 Heritage Drive, Apt. 14, Salem, MA. He’s also a Brazilian national who has been in the United States for 22 years.

The woman reported that when Silva re-entered her apartment, he was holding a knife and a hammer and threatened to kill everyone if they didn’t sit down.

“She stated that Jose [her roommate] went after Welington to attempt to get the weapons away from him,” Officer Larivee said. “In the struggle, Jose ended up getting a stab wound to his left rib area.”

The woman stated that she had been married to Silva for four years before they broke up two months ago.

“[The woman] and Welington have a history of domestic abuse,” Officer Larivee said. “[She] stated that earlier today at Walmart, Ronaldo [one of her other roommates] spoke with Welington in the parking lot. She didn’t know what was said. She also stated that Welington has been texting her and threatening her since they broke up. [She] thinks that Welington is jealous of her new relationship. Earlier in the night, police were called to the residence because [she] thought she had a restraining order against Welington due to previous charges. Officer [Bradon] Carlson confirmed that there was no RO [restraining order] and advised Welington to leave the residence. [The woman] said that a couple of hours later he returned and she called immediately.”

Officer Larivee then spoke with Jose DaSilva, the individual that was injured.

“While EMS was tending to him, I asked what happened and he said that Welington came into the house with a knife and asked them to sit,” Officer Larivee recounted. “Jose then said that he got up and attempted to engage with Welington to get the weapons from him. Jose said that he didn’t realize he was stabbed until police saw the blood. Jose was transported to Leominster Hospital where he was life flighted to UMass Memorial. Officer Donahue was with Jose at the hospital. Officer Bourne and Officer Donahue collected Jose’s clothing for potential evidence.”

Officer Larivee then spoke with Ronaldo.

“Ronaldo said that Jacqueline’s ex came to the apartment and told them to sit,” Officer Larivee said. “Ronaldo saw Jose engage near the front door with Welington and he assisted. Ronaldo said that they were able to get the weapons out of his hands and detain him on the stairs until police arrived. Ronaldo stated that Welington has been harassing [his roommate] since they broke up. Ronaldo stated that he thinks Welington put a GPS on her vehicle so he knows where she goes. Ronaldo didn’t have any injuries from the altercation. Ronaldo also stated that he spoke with Welington at Walmart earlier, who asked him to get the keys to [the woman’s] vehicle because it is his. Ronaldo said that he wouldn’t do that.”

Officer Larivee then spoke with Welington.

“He was read his Miranda warnings by Officer Hatstat and he stated that he understood his rights,” Officer Larivee said. “Welington stated that [his ex] texted and called him to come to the house, so that is why he was there. Welington stated that he had no idea what happened and he didn’t bring the weapons into the residence. Welington had no idea what was going on and he stated that he didn’t do anything wrong.”

Officer Larivee said that, at this time, enough evidence had been gathered to form probable cause to arrest Silva for assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.

“Officer Bourne transported Welington to the Leominster Police Department for the charge of ABDW [Assault and Battery with a Dangerous Weapon] and after further investigation, home invasion,” Officer Larivee said.

Officer Larivee remained on scene with Officer Hatstat and spoke with the woman again. At this time, Detective Michael Kochanski was also called to the scene.

“I went over the abused person notice of rights and did a dangerousness worksheet with [her],” Officer Larivee said. “I asked [her] if she wanted a restraining order and she stated that she did. I explained the process and also told her that Welington will probably be held at the station. [The woman] was comfortable with waiting for court to open on Tuesday as long as Welington is being held. I advised her that she would be informed if he was released.”

Officer Larivee said that police located Silva’s vehicle in the parking lot of Landmark Self Storage, which is located at 123 1st Street.

“It was parked in the back corner and Officer Hatstat said he observed footprints in the snow leading to a fence, which led him to believe that Welington parked and jumped the fence,” Officer Larivee said. “I returned to the station with Detective Kochanski and Officer Hatstat remained on scene. Officer [Kyle] Klimowicz stayed with the vehicle until a tow truck came and brought it to the station. State Police Crime Scene came to process the scene.”

Silva was charged with:

1. Assault and Battery with a Dangerous Weapon Causing Serious Bodily Injury
2. Home Invasion

At the time of his arrest, Officer Matthew Fallon said that Silva had an open case in his Massachusetts Board of Probation (BOP) record from Salem District Court. He was arraigned on Dec. 30, 2024, on charges of domestic assault and battery, as well as assault and battery with a dangerous weapon (i.e., a kitchen cabinet).

Silva was arraigned in Leominster District Court on Feb. 18, 2025. Following his arraignment, Silva was held in jail pending a dangerousness hearing which was scheduled for Feb. 25, 2025. After the hearing on Feb. 25, 2025, Judge Mark Noonan ruled Silva dangerous and ordered him held for 90 days retroactively from February 18, 2025, due to bail revocation, and 120 days for dangerousness, keeping him in custody until June 17, 2025.

Silva’s next court appearance is a pretrial conference scheduled for March 25, 2025. Following that, he is set to appear for a status hearing on June 17, 2025, in Leominster District Court.

Disclaimer: If you are wondering why the incident in this story was from February, that’s because I had to file FOIA request(s) to get the court documents for the incident. FOIAs are time consuming.

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