Arraignment Expected Amid Ongoing Death Investigation

BOSTON, August 12, 2021— A joint investigation by the Boston Police Department, Massachusetts State Police and the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office into the death of Alenny Matos has resulted in a criminal complaint issuing against a man now accused of abandoning Ms. Matos’ body in a trash bag at Stony Brook Reservation.

RINNYERS PENA, 42, is expected to be arraigned at or around 2:00 p.m. today in the West Roxbury Division of Boston Municipal Court on a charge of disinterring a body. The statute under which Mr. Pena is charged criminalizes actions including unauthorized conveyance of a body after death.

Mr. Pena has been held without bail under the state’s dangerousness statute since his arrest on June 7, 2021, in connection with a separate case in the Roxbury Division of Boston Municipal Court charging him with kidnapping, rape, strangulation or suffocation, assault and battery on a household or family member, photographing an unsuspecting person in the nude and distribution of a Class A substance.  Those charges reflect offenses committed against a second, different victim and are not directly related to the ongoing death investigation for Ms. Matos.

A relative of Ms. Matos contacted the Boston Police Department on January 27, 2020, to request a wellbeing check after repeatedly attempting to contact Ms. Matos over a period of two days without success.  Officers were unable to locate Ms. Matos and began a Missing Person investigation.

During the course of the investigation, detectives assigned to BPD’s District B3, Special Investigations Unit and Homicide Unit obtained cell phone records that showed phone calls between Mr. Pena and Ms. Matos on January 25, 2020.Evidence gathered during the course of the investigation – including cell site location information, security camera footage and interviews – suggests that Mr. Pena picked Ms. Matos’ up at her Dorchester apartment in the early morning hours of January 26, 2020, and drove her to his Norton Street residence. He later drove to the area of Turtle Pond Parkway and Enneking Parkway inside the Stony Brook Reservation. Prosecutors allege that he transported Ms. Matos’ body to that location and abandoned her there. Months later, an individual walking in the area located Ms. Matos’ remains inside a trash bag on May 9, 2020.

The location where Ms. Matos’ body was discovered is on state property.  As a result, State Police detectives assigned to the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office responded, leading to a joint investigation with Boston Police detectives. 

Prosecutors are awaiting the findings of the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner regarding the cause and manner of Ms. Matos’ death.

“Everyone deserves to be treated with care and dignity. The evidence gathered during the course of our investigation suggests that Mr. Pena chose to treat Ms. Matos with anything but care and dignity when he disposed of her body inside a trash bag following her death,” District Attorney Rollins said.  “As we continue to investigate Ms. Matos’ death, we ask that anyone with information that could aid in this or other investigations share what they know with the police or prosecutors in my office.  This family deserves answers.  Ms. Matos deserved better.”

Victims and witnesses of any crime are encouraged to call 911 in an emergency.  Anyone with information that may be relevant to this investigation may also call the Boston Police Department tip line at 1-800-494-TIPS or the Suffolk County State Police Detective Unit at 617-727-8817.

Assistant District Attorney Alyssa Tochka and Assistant District Attorney Sarah McEvoy are the assigned prosecutors.  Nicole Bresnahan is the victim witness advocate assigned to the criminal case pending in the Roxbury Division of the Boston Municipal Court.  Edith Ayuso is the victim witness advocate assigned to the pending death investigation.  The joint investigation into Ms. Matos’ death is being conducted by Lt. Det. Michael Kern, Det. Jean Dorsainvil and Det. Juan Seoane of BPD’s District B3; Det. Joao Monteiro of BPD’s Special Investigations Unit; Sgt. Det. Richard Medina, Sgt. Det. Amy Erlanson, Det. Jay Tully and Det. Taylor Small of BPD’s Homicide Unit; Massachusetts State Police Det. Sgt. Daniel Herman and Trooper Russel Lloyd of the Suffolk County State Police Detective Unit.  Mr. Pena is represented by Kirsten O’Brien. 

All charged individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

Suffolk County District Attorney Rachael Rollins’ office serves the communities of Boston, Chelsea, Revere, and Winthrop, Mass. The office handles over 20,000 cases a year. More than 160 attorneys in the office practice in nine district and municipal courts, Suffolk Superior Court, the Massachusetts Appeals Court, the Supreme Judicial Court, and the Boston Juvenile Courts. The office employs some 300 people and offers a wide range of services and programs to serve anyone who comes in contact with the criminal justice system. This office is committed to educating the public about the services we provide, our commitment to crime prevention, and our dedication to keeping the residents of Suffolk County safe.