Trial set to begin in 2019 murder of a 34-year-old Malden man in Revere

Nelio Barbosa, a native of Brazil and local business owner, was gunned down while driving on Rt. 1A in Revere

By Steve Freker

Nelio Barbosa was only 18 when he came to the United States from Brazil in 2003. He was a hard worker who started various business ventures to enhance his new life in America. By the time he was in his late 20s, he began to enjoy some success in the auto detailing business, eventually opening and running his own shop, ProRad Tint, which was located at 520 Main St. in Malden.

On a sunny Saturday in early August of 2019, Barbosa was driving north on North Shore Road/Rt. 1A in Revere, toward Lynn, close to the Wonderland MBTA Blue Line Station. According to authorities, the unthinkable happened next. Police investigators at the time said that a car pulled up alongside Barbosa’s vehicle and pumped multiple shots through the driver’s side window before speeding away. Hit several times, Barbosa slumped over the steering wheel, covered with blood, according to police reports. Police, fire personnel and EMTs responded quickly to the scene that fateful day.

Revere and Mass. State Police shut down both directions of Route 1A, causing one of the biggest traffic jams in Revere history, while they conducted their preliminary investigation. News footage showing the massive gridlock on one of the North Shore’s most heavily traveled roadways dominated televised news coverage later that evening.

Nelio Barbosa was rushed to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston on that Saturday, where he later died from the gunshot wounds.

Surveillance video coverage in that section of North Shore Road/Rt. 1A enhanced an intense investigation, providing solid evidence that led to the arrest of a prime suspect in the shooting, Carlos Lemon, 27. Lemon is accused of being the shooter in the case, as his vehicle was IDed alongside Barbosa’s, and it was determined Lemon was the only occupant of the suspect vehicle at the time of the shooting. Lemon was arrested and charged with murder about a week after the fatal shooting of Barbosa. He pleaded not guilty in Suffolk District Court.

Jury selection began on January 10 for Lemon’s murder trial in Suffolk Superior Court, which is located at 3 Pemberton Square, Boston. The trial was expected to begin as soon as jury selection was completed, either at the end of this week or the beginning of next.

Police investigators have yet to reveal a suspected motive for the broad daylight shooting in 2019.

Barbosa was born in Central de Minas, Minas Gerais, Brazil, and came to the United States in 2003, eventually settling in Malden, where he started his auto detailing and window tinting business. He left his father in Brazil, one sister who was living in Walpole, Mass., and six other brothers and sisters in Brazil.