Parole Advocate Arrested On Parole Violation

BOSTON — A man who worked for a nonprofit that advocates for paroling prisoners in Massachusetts surrendered to Massachusetts State Police this week after being accused of stabbing another man during a road rage incident and violating terms of his own parole.

Joseph Irizarry Sr., 41, of Dorchester, who served 20 years in prison for his role in a 2000 murder in Lawrence, is accused of stabbing a passenger in a car on Nov. 17 after the vehicle he was driving nearly collided with the car the victim was riding in. The two vehicles stopped on the Bowker Overpass at the intersection of Boylston Street and Charlesgate East and the occupants of both cars got out and argued.

Irizarry, according to police, punched both the driver and the victim in the face, then retrieved a knife from his car and stabbed the passenger. The victims followed Irizarry for a short distance before losing him and called police at 7:37 p.m.

During the investigation that led to state police identifying Irizarry as the suspect, investigators learned Irizarry was on parole from a murder conviction stemming from an April 2000 gang-related shooting in Lawrence. Earlier this week, police obtained an arrest warrant and a search warrant for the car Irizarry was driving on the night of the stabbing.

Irizarry, who agreed to surrender in Medford earlier this week, was charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, assault and battery, and unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle.

Irizarry was returned to prison on a parole violation. His arraignment on the road rage charges has not been schedule.

Irizarry was released on June 10, 2020 as part of the state's push to release prisoners to reduce the spread of COVID-19 in state prisons during the height of the coronavirus pandemic. The state parole board's June 1, 2020 decision notes Irizarry had served 20 years for the murder of Angel Rodriguez. The board noted his age at the time of his second degree murder conviction and his prison record.

A month after he was paroled in June 2020, Irizarry was hired as the community organizer for the Campaign to End Life without Parole in Massachusetts, a nonprofit that opposes life sentences with no chance of release. Patch has asked Campaign to End Life without Parole in Massachusetts for comment and will update this story when we hear back.

"People need to understand how much impact formerly incarcerated people can have on the community," Irizarry told DigBoston after he was hired by the nonprofit. "It’s important to have someone as a community organizer who has been affected by incarceration."