WORCESTER—A Worcester County Grand Jury has indicted Kayden M. Keane Hoffler, 17, of Worcester, on a charge of murder in connection with the April 30, 2024, shooting death of 19-year-old Eathan Renteria.
The indictment, announced on Thursday by Worcester County District Attorney Joseph D. Early Jr., was handed down on Dec. 20, 2024. Hoffler is accused of shooting Renteria, whose injuries proved fatal weeks after the incident.
Worcester police responded to reports of a car crashing into a house on Paine Street at approximately 9 p.m. on April 30, when officers found Renteria in his vehicle with a gunshot wound. He was hospitalized for nearly three weeks before dying of his injuries on May 16, 2024.
Hoffler was initially arrested on May 8, 2024, and charged in juvenile court with armed assault to murder and firearms offenses. On Oct. 1, those charges were upgraded, and Hoffler was arraigned in Worcester Central District Court on a murder charge.
The recent indictment moves the case to Worcester Superior Court, where Hoffler is scheduled to be arraigned on Jan. 13, 2025.
Editor Charlene Arsenault can be reached at carsenault@theworcesterguardian.org
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