A former bouncer at a downtown Boston bar pleaded guilty Thursday to manslaughter in connection with the fatal stabbing of a Marine visiting from the Chicago area during St. Patrick’s Day weekend two years ago, officials said.
Alvaro Larrama, 40, of East Boston, entered his plea in Suffolk Superior Court in the death of Daniel Martinez, 23, a veteran who had served four years in the Marine Corps and who was vacationing in Boston when he was killed, authorities said.
Judge Joshua Wall sentenced Larrama to serve 17 to 20 years in state prison, with credit for more than two years he spent behind bars while the case was pending. He had been facing a first-degree murder charge.
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Martinez’s mother, Apolonia Martinez, addressed Larrama directly from the witness stand Thursday.
“You’re a nothing and a nobody and are on your way to nowhere,” she said. “You’re a compete failure who will be forgotten.”
Larrama, wearing a black suit, sat with his head bowed as she spoke. He later apologized for what he had done.
“I want to sincerely and deeply apologize to Mr. Martinez’s family,” Larrama said, choking back tears. He said he had seen Apolonia Martinez in court and on television news reports.
“I finally get to personally tell her that I’m extremely sorry,” Larrama said. “I take full responsibility to my actions.”
On the afternoon of March 19, 2022, Martinez and a friend had stopped by Sons of Boston, a Union Street bar near Faneuil Hall. On their first visit, they had no problems with anyone there, prosecutors said. But shortly after 6 p.m., Martinez and his friend returned to the crowded bar, waiting in line outside while Larrama manned the door.
Larrama wouldn’t let them inside, and after a brief exchange Martinez and his friend walked away. But Larrama called another bouncer over to take his place and followed them down the street, prosecutors said.
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As Larrama approached, Martinez turned toward him with his arm raised, as if to block a blow, according to a police account of the altercation. Martinez hit him with an aluminum beer bottle, and a fight broke out. Eventually, Larrama took out a knife and stabbed Martinez twice in his chest, authorities said.
Asked by Wall if he had stabbed the Marine, Larrama said, “I did.”
Prosecutors said video footage taken from multiple security cameras on Union Street shows Larrama putting his knife back into his pocket after the fight and being led into the kitchen at Sons of Boston, where he discarded the hat and sweat shirt he was wearing and turned his T-shirt inside out before leaving through a back exit. Martinez was taken to Massachusetts General Hospital and pronounced dead just before 7:30 p.m.
Micaela Newton, the sister of Martinez, also addressed the court Thursday, recalling her brother’s sense of humor.
“I’m never going to have the opportunity to be an aunt to his children,” she said. “It’s the worst pain imaginable losing someone you love so dearly.”
Daniel Martinez was about 16 when he decided he wanted to join the Marines, and did so after he graduated high school in 2017, said his brother, Matthew Martinez, by phone days after the slaying.
“We talked every now and then, but we were growing into men on our own,” Matthew Martinez said. “He was just a free spirit, loving, and just wanted to see the world.”
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As he usually did, Matthew Martinez drove his brother to O’Hare Airport to visit Boston with another of his “Marine brothers.” Daniel had already taken trips to California, Kansas, and Colorado for visits with fellow Marines, as well as a ski trip to Canada, Matthew Martinez said.
“He was all about connecting with the people he felt loved by,” Martinez said. “He really just wanted to be around the people he loves, the people he calls his brothers.”
On Thursday, Apolonia Martinez said her son’s death has created a punishing void in her life.
“All I have are memories,” she said.
Travis Andersen can be reached at travis.andersen@globe.com. Sean Cotter can be reached at sean.cotter@globe.com. Follow him @cotterreporter.