Everett man found guilty of Randolph murder in 2021

An Everett man has been found guilty of shooting a rival as he sat in his parked car before a homecoming football game.

A Middlesex Superior Court jury, after a three-week trial, convicted 22-year-old Michael Stanton of second-degree murder for the shooting deaths of Craig McDonald Jr. and Randolph on Oct. 22, 2021. He is scheduled to be sentenced at 10 a.m. Wednesday in Woburn Court

A second defendant, Luiz Perlera, is scheduled to be tried on murder charges in the same court on October 23.

“This case is an example of the dangerous trend of young people illegally possessing firearms and using them to commit violence in our communities,” Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan said in a written statement following the verdict. As hundreds of students, families and other spectators crowded around the stadium to celebrate the annual football tradition, the defendant brazenly located McDonald in the same neighborhood.

“When he found him, he used an illegally possessed firearm to end his life,” she continued. “This was truly a senseless tragedy. While nothing can mitigate the harm caused by this defendant, this prosecution reflects our commitment to holding accountable those who commit these violent acts.”