Four children between the ages of 11 and 12 have been charged with murder in the brutal beating death of 51-year-old Rony Alonso in Providence, Rhode Island, following an attack that left his family devastated and demanding justice.
Police responded to 249 Manton Avenue around 7:23 p.m. on January 19 after witnesses reported seeing several people assault an adult male. According to Providence Police spokeswoman Kristy dosReis, witnesses saw the attackers knock Alonso to the ground and repeatedly kick and punch him before fleeing the scene.
Alonso was rushed to Rhode Island Hospital, where his condition significantly deteriorated in the hours after the incident. He died from his injuries on January 22. An autopsy conducted by the medical examiner’s office determined the cause of death was blunt force trauma.
The case took a dramatic turn when plainclothes officers monitoring the Manton Avenue area following Alonso’s assault spotted suspicious activity on January 20. Around 4 p.m., police responded after a 57-year-old woman reported that youths had thrown rocks at her vehicle. When the woman parked her car to confront the group, the boys allegedly attempted to assault her. Officers intervened before she was struck.
Three of the suspects were taken into custody at that scene, charged initially with disorderly conduct and malicious vandalism. During interviews with detectives from the Youth Services Bureau, the children allegedly admitted to their roles in the assault on Alonso. A fourth suspect was later identified and arrested on a warrant.
The four minors—three 12-year-olds and one 11-year-old—were initially charged with felony assault and conspiracy. After the autopsy results confirmed Alonso’s death was caused by blunt force trauma, prosecutors upgraded the charges to murder and conspiracy to commit felony assault. All four were arraigned in Family Court on Tuesday.
Police have not revealed a motive for the attack, though investigators believe the boys only wanted “to hurt an innocent person.” The children are being held at the Rhode Island Training School.
Alonso’s family described him as a quiet man who came to the United States 30 years ago from Guatemala. His sister, Ingrid Alonso, said he arrived at the hospital unconscious. “They killed him unjustly, he didn’t bother anyone,” she said.
The tragedy compounds the family’s grief. Alonso’s son Luis, 25, was killed in a fiery car crash in Warwick in November, just months before his father’s death. The family has set up a GoFundMe to help bring Alonso’s body back to Guatemala. His brother William expressed his anguish over the loss: “May God forgive them, but I don’t forgive them.”
The family wants authorities to try the minors as adults, a possibility under Rhode Island law. The state is among 23 states with no minimum age for juveniles to be tried in adult court, according to the National Council on Crime and Delinquency.
Kara Hoopis Manosh, president of the Rhode Island Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, explained that Rhode Island law generally treats anyone under 18 as a juvenile, with cases handled in Family Court with a focus on rehabilitation. However, for the most serious offenses, including murder, the law allows a judge to certify a case to adult court after a hearing. For murder charges, there is no minimum age for certification, meaning the court will carefully consider the child’s age, maturity, understanding of right and wrong, and the circumstances of the offense.
The Attorney General’s office would need to seek to waive the alleged offenders out of Family Court within 30 days of their arraignment. A Family Court judge could then determine whether jurisdiction should be waived, allowing the juveniles to be tried in Superior Court as adults.
If the cases remain in Family Court, the juveniles could be held at the Rhode Island Training School until age 19. The facility focuses on rehabilitation through educational programming, behavioral health services, and skills-building instruction. However, state law gives judges flexibility to impose sentences extending beyond age 19 to the Adult Correctional Institutions for certified juveniles.
Timothy Rondeau, spokesman for Attorney General Peter F. Neronha, declined to discuss how the state plans to proceed, confirming only that the office is involved in the ongoing investigation.
Police initially identified the victim as Romy Alfonso but later clarified his name was Rony Alonso. The case remains under investigation by Providence police detectives and the Youth Services Bureau.