Carl-Hens Beliard Salem State University basketball player shot dead in targeted hit by Missael Pena Canela. No known motive. A rising star’s ascent cut short.
A Massachusetts basketball star who helped his high school win the state championship was shot dead days before his first game as a college freshman – in what authorities believe was a targeted shooting.
Salem State University freshman Carl-Hens Beliard, 18, was found with gunshot wounds inside a vehicle at around 1:30 a.m. Wednesday, officials said. He was rushed to Salem Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
‘This does not appear to be a random act of violence or that there is any ongoing threat to the SSU community,’ Salem police stated.
Senseless gun violence
Arrested and charged with Beliard’s murder later that day was Missael Pena Canela, also 18, of Salem according to Essex County District Attorney Paul Tucker’s office.
‘This senseless gun violence is tragic not only for the victim’s family but for the SSU community and beyond,’ Tucker said in a statement, the the Boston Globe reported.
Details about how Canela was identified as a suspect was not immediately known. Also unclear is whether the suspect was a student at Salem State and how the two young men knew each other, if at all.
The shooting took place across from a parking lot near the school’s athletics facilities, the DA’s office stated.
Offered University President John Keenan: ‘As both the Salem State president and a college dad, this tragedy is heartbreaking for all in our community and every parent’s worst nightmare.’
‘He was such a good kid,’ Beliard’s mother, Altagrace Beliard, told WHDH.
She said basketball had been her son’s passion since he was just 2 years old and that he dreamed of becoming a star. He had arrived at Salem State on a full scholarship.
‘He never gave up. No matter how hard it was, he kept pushing himself,’ the grieving mom said.
Belliard, a forward on the men’s basketball team, was a member of Worcester’s North High School varsity boys basketball team, which was honored in May by Worcester Mayor Joseph Pettey for winning the Division 1 State Championship.
The team defeated Needham 73-64 in March to claim the title after a 24-2 season, according to the Worcester Telegram & Gazette.
Beliard, the team’s only senior, said at a rally celebrating the victory that the championship felt ‘like a dream come true.’
‘I don’t even have the answers,’
‘Ever since I started playing basketball, I always wanted to win a championship. It’s an amazing feeling,’ the teen told the Telegram. ‘We have a lot of chemistry on the team and that’s how we got so far, that’s why we’re here right now.
‘We hang out outside of basketball. We’re all playing basketball. It’s really like a brotherhood,’ he added.
The 6-foot-5 forward told the paper he planned to study exercise science in college and eventually pursue a doctorate in physical therapy. He also spoke of the team’s camaraderie on and off the court.
The young man also made the high school’s honor roll in the second quarter of his senior year, according to the Boston Globe.
Al Pettway, Worcester’s North High School dean of students and boys basketball coach, shared his memories of Beliard on Wednesday afternoon.
‘He was a great kid, smart, smart student, he had a smile that would just brighten up any room when he would open his mouth, so we lost a really, really good one today, unfortunately,’ Pettway said, according to the Globe.
‘I had just spoken to him about a month ago, he was excited about school, enjoying himself, he sent me his basketball schedule so I was excited about going to watch him play,’ he said.
‘College basketball starts very shortly, so I was really excited about going to see him play in uniform, and unfortunately that’s not gonna happen,’ Pettway added.
He said it was tough to inform Beliard’s former teammates about his death.
‘They were in shock. They thought I was talking about a different Carl. They repeated several times, ‘Which Carl?’ And I kind of reinforced to them that it was our Carl,’ Pettway said, WHDH reported.
‘I don’t even have the answers,’ Beliard’s mother, Altagrace Beliard told WBZ-TV.
Counselors are available to help students and the school department has a link on its website for dealing with grief and loss.
The investigation remains ongoing. Canela will be arraigned on Thursday in Salem District Court.
No known murder motive was immediately known.
Beliard would have turned 19 on November 11.
