Merrimac man convicted in Haverhill murder

News Release, April 13, 2023

SALEM — A Merrimac man was convicted of first-degree murder on Thursday for stabbing a Haverhill man to death during an armed robbery, Essex County District Attorney Paul F. Tucker announced.

Kaiden Henderson, 21, had been charged with killing 26-year-old Jose Vasquez on Nov. 21, 2020, while robbing him in an apartment on Marble Street in Haverhill.

A jury sitting in Salem Superior Court found Henderson guilty not only of felony murder but armed robbery.

The jury found a second defendant, Devaughn Johnson, 28, of Haverhill guilty of accessory after the fact (armed robbery) but acquitted him of accessory after the fact (murder).

Henderson faces a mandatory sentence of life without the possibility of parole on the murder conviction. Johnson faces a sentence of seven years for his accessory conviction.

Judge Thomas Drechsler set sentencing for May 8.

A third person arrested in connection with the murder, David Trongeau, 20, of Haverhill, died prior to trial.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys Kelleen Forlizzi and James Gubitose.

They were assisted by Chief of Victim Witness Services Maureen Leal; members of the Essex County District Attorney’s Office State Police Detective Unit; the Massachusetts State Police Violent Fugitive Apprehension Section; and detectives from the Haverhill Police Department.

The trial began April 4. Henderson was represented by Attorney John Apruzzese of Salem, and Johnson was represented by Attorney John Morris of Salem.