NORTH ADAMS — A city man has been charged with murder after his young wife died early this morning at Berkshire Medical Center in Pittsfield, where she had been hospitalized since being assaulted last week.
Eugene A. Shade Jr., 34, of Edgewood Avenue, pleaded not guilty to one count of murder when he was arraigned this afternoon in Northern Berkshire District Court before Judge Michael Ripps, according to the district attorney's office.
Julie Shade, 22, was taken to BMC on Tuesday, July 22, after Shade allegedly tried to strangle her at their Edgewood home. She had remained in critical condition since being admitted.
Eugene Shade was arraigned last week on one count of attempted murder and one count of assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon, and one count of assault and battery. He pleaded not guilty and was being held on $250,000 bail in the Berkshire County House of Correction.
Ripps ordered Shade continue to be held at the jail without bail. A pretrial conference has been scheduled for Sept. 8. The case is likely to be moved to Berkshire Superior Court in Pittsfield.
The Shades have two daughters, ages 1 and 3; they are reportedly in the custody of the Department of Social Services.
The investigation is being conducted by members of the North Adams Police Department and state police detectives assigned to the district attorney's office.
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Julie Ann has been robbed of ever seeing the girls first day of school, sweet 16's, graduation's, marriages. She'll never have the joys of being an aunt or a grandmother. Her father and I want Eugene to live forver to hurt the way we do. Death is the easy way out. I have always thought of Julie Ann as if she were my own and my heart goes out to those two beautiful girls who have been robbed of thier mother.
Armed North Adams Man Arrested Following Domestic Standoff
Staff Reports
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Matthew Parker, a 44-year-old North Adams man, is set to face multiple counts of attempted murder and weapons charges in Northern Berkshire District Court on Friday morning following an hours-long, armed standoff at a Houghton Street home.
The defendant is being arraigned for:
Domestic Assault and Battery
Assault with the Intent to Murder (3 counts)
Carrying a Firearm While Under the Influence of Alcohol (3 counts)
Possession of a hi-capacity firearm (4 counts)
Improper Storage of a hi-capacity firearm (2 counts)
Improper Storage of a firearm (6 counts)
According to a report, on June 10, at approximately 8:42 p.m., officers responded to 365 Houghton St. following a report of a domestic assault and battery. The caller said she and her husband had been involved in a physical altercation.
She said her husband was intoxicated, making suicidal statements about shooting himself, and had access to both a shotgun and a pistol.
Upon arrival, officers made contact with both the caller and Parker. During the encounter, Parker threatened to shoot officers before retreating into the home and refusing to exit.
Officers believed that Parker was armed.
To ensure public safety, police established a perimeter around the home and requested assistance from the Berkshire County Special Response Team (SRT) and North Adams Police crisis negotiators. The Brien Center was also contacted and promptly provided an emergency mental health clinician to assist with the incident.
Special Response Team personnel deployed drones to monitor the residence and provide aerial illumination. During the operation, officers saw Parker exit the house carrying a rifle. He pointed it at the drones, stated a report. Parker subsequently pointed the rifle toward several officers positioned behind their cruisers. After officers attempted to de-escalate the situation, Parker returned inside the residence.
Trained crisis negotiators maintained communication with Parker for several hours in an effort to peacefully resolve the situation. At approximately 2 a.m., Parker ceased communication with negotiators.
Drone operators later observed Parker unconscious in a recliner on the first floor of the residence, with a rifle and shotgun on the floor nearby.
Members of the Berkshire County SRT then executed a coordinated operation. Diversionary devices were deployed through a window while an entry team simultaneously entered the home, secured the firearms, and took the defendant into custody.
A search warrant was executed after Parker was in custody. North Adams Police seized four shotguns, six rifles, two handguns, and thousands or rounds of ammunition from the home.
During the operation, one SRT member sustained a minor injury related to a less-lethal bean bag deployment. Parker also sustained non-life threatening injuries during the arrest and was transported to Berkshire Medical Center for medical evaluation.
"We thank the community for its patience and cooperation throughout this incident, particularly residents in the affected area who complied with temporary shelter-in-place requests," Police Chief Mark Bailey said. "The North Adams Police Department extends its sincere appreciation to the agencies that provided mutual aid and assisted by handling calls for service during this incident. We are especially grateful to the Berkshire County Special Response Team for its professional and decisive response, the Brien Center for the rapid deployment of a mental health clinician, and our crisis negotiators whose efforts helped maintain dialogue and contributed significantly to the safe resolution of this incident."
On Friday, June 12, Matthew Parker will be arraigned in Northern Berkshire District Court for an incident that occurred on Wednesday evening, June 10, into the early morning of Thursday, June 11. click for more
The upper section of Houghton Street was blocked off for hours on Wednesday night as authorities sought to deal with an individual reportedly having a mental health issue.
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