Boston board suspends licenses ‘indefinitely’ for Boston bar after Marine stabbed to death Outside the Sons of Boston bar on March 21, 2022 in Boston, MA. A Marine was stabbed to death at the location. (Staff Photo By Nancy Lane/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald/TNS)
Boston’s Licensing Board has “indefinitely” suspended the licenses of Sons of Boston, the downtown bar where a bouncer is charged with stabbing an out-of-town Marine to death last month.
“The entire security operation from beginning to end was a failure,” Board Chair Kathleen Joyce said in a lengthy statement she read before the vote to suspend the licenses “indefinitely.” “I do not believe that they are operating a law-abiding business.”
Sons of Boston had already lost its entertainment license after the fatal stabbing outside the Union Street bar last month. Alvaro Larrama, a 39-year-old East Boston father of four, is charged with stabbing 23-year-old U.S. Marine veteran Daniel Martinez to death after the pair apparently got into a confrontation outside the bar on the weekend after St. Patrick’s Day.
Joyce and others described the incident as “foreseeable” based on previous issues. Members also pointed to the evidence that no restaurant staff apparently called the cops — but some, according to video viewed by members, helped Larrama get a change of clothes — as evidence that management was either “unable or unwilling” to handle these situations.
The board members voted unanimously to find violations on all counts, and they suspended the bar’s licenses to serve “indefinitely.”
During a hearing on the matter earlier this week, the bar’s lawyer Carolyn Conway said this “tragic and senseless death” at the bar was “not foreseeable by the licensee.”
“We just did not condone anybody having any weapons,” she said.
Larrama, who was working as a bouncer at the bar, has pleaded not guilty to murdering Martinez, who was in town from Illinois and out celebrating St. Patrick’s Day with a Marine Corps buddy.
Martinez and his friend went to the Sons of Boston pub on Union Street, spending time inside the bar without incident. They then left and apparently got back in line to return to the bar.
While standing in line, Martinez and the bouncer appeared to get into a confrontation, according to video obtained by police. Martinez then began walking away, and Larrama allegedly chased after him, according to police. The bouncer is accused of then attacking Martinez and stabbing him to death.
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