PEABODY — A Chelsea man was sentenced to nine to 13 years in prison yesterday for what a prosecutor called the "barbaric" killing of a Peabody father a judge called "a good and decent man."
Fernando Aristy's sentence came following an emotional, hour-long hearing in Salem Superior Court, where the widow and other family members of Chad McDonald described the pain of their loss and a prosecutor asked for nearly the maximum, an 18- to 20-year sentence.
Aristy, 25, was found guilty on Wednesday of voluntary manslaughter, following a nearly two-week trial.
McDonald, 34, had been staying at a Lynn warehouse where he worked. Weeks before the Oct. 9, 2010 beating, the two had argued after Aristy parked his Jeep in a way that blocked access to McDonald's business and McDonald tried to tow it with a chain.
Prosecutor Maureen Wilson Leal had hoped to convince jurors that the killing was a premeditated and cruel first-degree murder, payback for the earlier incident. Aristy's lawyer, Ray Buso, said his client was acting in self-defense after McDonald grabbed a screwdriver during a late-night encounter.
Wilson Leal recalled the testimony of a doctor and a medical examiner about the extent of McDonald's brain injuries. "This was a barbaric way to kill someone," Wilson Leal told the judge, going on to suggest a bullet "would have been more humane."
"This was personal," Wilson Leal said.
But Buso objected to that characterization, saying the jury's verdict suggests that they believe he acted in self-defense but with excessive force, or in the heat of provocation.
"There was never a thought in his head that anything that happened that night was going to lead to someone's death," Buso said.
Michelle McDonald, who was married to McDonald for 14 years, recalled how her husband had called her in the hours after the beating, telling her that if he could get his eyes open, "he'd come see me and C.J.," their son.
The next time she saw him, he was unrecognizable, as doctors struggled in vain to save his life. Over the next 11 days, she said, she sat by his bed holding his hand. "I had so much hope," she told the judge.
But the "soulmate" who had always taken care of everyone else first — to the point where he didn't want to go to the hospital because he didn't have insurance — slowly slipped away, she said.
His sons, Chad Jr., or "C.J.," 13, and Jarred, 18, sat with her in court.
Aristy, Buso said, wanted to address the court, but when the time came, he changed his mind. Instead, his half-brother Brayer Acosta, told the judge that Aristy's family has long wanted to reach out to the McDonald family.
"Our hearts go out to the family," Acosta said, noting that his own family had recently gone through the experience of sitting through the trial of two men convicted of robbing and shooting their grandfather in the Dominican Republic.
"This has been a tragic and heart-wrenching case," Judge David Lowy said, before acknowledging that neither side would be satisfied with the outcome.
Lowy said that while McDonald did arm himself first, "there is no excuse for literally beating a man to death."
"The social compact cannot endure if a man is allowed to take the law into his own hands," said the judge.
The nine- to 13-year sentence falls exactly into state sentencing guidelines for voluntary manslaughter when a defendant has a prior record.
Outside court, Michelle McDonald said she understood the jury's verdict. "With what the jury heard in court, voluntary manslaughter was the best they could do," she said.
And while she would have preferred a longer sentence for Aristy, she accepted the judge's decision. "Chad's gone," said McDonald. "I'm never going to get him back. He was my whole world."
Buso yesterday filed a motion for a new trial, arguing that he may have erred by failing to take the opportunity to let jurors know that the star witness in the case, Wilfredo Mordan, who was the only one to see Aristy holding a board, had disappeared after testifying.
Courts reporter Julie Manganis may be reached at 978-338-2521 or at jmanganis@salemnews.com.
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