Teenager arrested, charged in classmate’s decapitation

LAWRENCE, Mass. – A 16-year-old has been arrested and charged with murder in connection with the death of his 16-year-old classmate whose headless body was found near the Merrimack River in Lawrence, Massachusetts.

Essex District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett said Mathew Borges was arrested Saturday morning.

The decapitated body of 16-year-old Lee Manuel Viloria-Paulino was discovered by the riverbank Thursday by a woman walking her dog. Police recovered the head a short distance away. The boy had been missing for about two weeks, last seen at his grandmother’s home in Lawrence on Nov. 18.

The two boys attended Lawrence High School. Blodgett says Borges will be arraigned Monday on a charge of first-degree murder. He’ll be charged as an adult.

It was not immediately clear if Borges has a lawyer.

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