Andrew Barley

Andrew T. Barley was a lifelong resident of Worcester, Massachusetts, where he was born and raised. The 28-year-old male graduated from Worcester Vocational High School and worked in construction alongside his father. Known affectionately by nicknames like Son, Paps, and Beamer, Andrew was a member of the Pleasant Street Seventh Day Adventist Church. His family described his death as unexpected.

On the morning of October 24, 2022, Worcester Police responded to a report of a gunshot at Barley’s home on Burncoat Street around 8:40 a.m. Officers arrived to find him suffering from gunshot wounds. He was transported to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The incident prompted a lockdown of more than an hour at nearby schools, including Quinsigamond Community College and Burncoat Street Preparatory School.

Prosecutors later alleged that two men, masked and armed, had waited overnight near Barley’s residence. They said the men entered the home around 8:30 a.m., shot Barley twice in his bedroom, and stole items from the house. The two men then allegedly fled in a car that had been parked at a third man’s home on Pilgrim Avenue before leaving in different directions using Uber rides that the third man had paid for.

An investigation involving Worcester Police, prosecutors, and investigators from Boston and Nashua, New Hampshire, led to the arrests of three men. Luis Cotto, 30, was arrested in November 2022. Berny Calderon, 25, was arrested in January 2023, and Kelvin Verde, 23, turned himself in to authorities in February 2023.

In March 2023, a Worcester County grand jury indicted Calderon and Verde on charges of murder, home invasion, and armed robbery. The grand jury also indicted Cotto on a charge of accessory after the fact to murder. The indictments moved the cases to Worcester Superior Court.

On April 11, 2023, all three men pleaded not guilty to the charges during their arraignment. Barley’s family members were present in the courtroom. A judge ordered Calderon and Verde to be held without bail, while Cotto was released after posting $50,000 bail. The case was proceeding in court as of April 2023.