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Wow. Shot him in the back. The prosecution is saying the motivation for the crime was that Burke thought Ronan (and/or) Junta broke into his apartment. And no doubt stole his drugs. So Burke figures he'd have to go and kill Ronan??? Has to be more to the story than that.

RA, I didn't suggest any such thing. The Assistant DA said that. That's what I am commenting on. Did you read the article? The prosecution is alleging that Burke was seeking revenge because he believed Ronan and/or Junta had broken into his apt. and robbed him. The point I was trying to make was that it seems there's got to be more to it than that, note the ?s in my comment.

Hey Donna, you most certainly made a suggestion by saying "And no doubt stole his drugs." Drugs were NEVER mentioned by the ADA when she discussed the robbery. You made that up yourself with NO knowledge of the true story. I look forward to the full story being told so you can realize how ignorant your comments really are. It sickens me that you feel the need to make insensitive comments on these blogs as a daily hobby.

Charles, Unfortunately, I find your post nearly incomprehensible. But I can assure you that my sleeves are rolled up and I am involved.

Most people with an ounce of common sense can see Donna was recounting the current theory of the prosecution. "The prosecution is saying the motivation for the crime was that Burke thought Ronan (and/or) Junta broke into his apartment. And no doubt stole his drugs." I understand some of you might see the period after "apartment" and due to short attention spans forget that Donna is discussing what is being alleged in the case. Her train of thought continues, but it seems Charles, RA, and Steve disembarked a bit too early.

The civil thing to do would have been to ask Donna for clarification rather than foam at the mouth and jump to conclusions. But alas, such is the state of netiquette these days.

Oh, and people... let's not forget that Ronan was texting Burke arranging a deal to sell him drugs. You should possibly consider that before white-knighting him. Did he deserve to be killed? Of course not. But he indeed was involved with drugs.

Donna – Your curiosity is understandable. What happened to Joe doesn’t make sense. Right now, he should be preparing to defend both you and me in the Marines. I think RA’s and Steve’s points are that there is more to the story. While curiosity is human nature, only the person who killed Joe knows why he chose to do what he did. Speculation and rumors will only cause pain to those who knew or know anyone involved. As the case progresses, we will learn more.

Steve and RA – Joe was a wonderful person. He was a loving son, brother, grandson, nephew, cousin, and friend. You know this, I know this, and anyone who was blessed to have ever received a kind word or gesture from Joe knows this. Anyone else can sit at their computer and say what they want. In the end, the rumors don’t matter. What matters is that Joe is gone, but not forgotten.

CommonSenseCitizen – While you may or may not possess common sense, you clearly lack empathy. RA and Steve are clearly personally affected by this tragedy and are hurting in a way that you will hopefully never have to understand. Your comments are callous and unnecessary, but say what you will.

I don't know who you are EJ but i thank you for your thoughtful comments.
cathy monepenny - joe's aunt

EJs comments seem to have disappeared. Patch Editors, please put it back!

Question is, who lied to Burke and told him that Ronan stole his money? The poor family.....hopefully that will come out. Burke should still rot in jail for life.

Back in August, someone (speculating or "in the know") posted on the Boston Herald forum, the alleged motive exactly as described by the DA office. The robbery, amount of cash ($20K) and who might be involved (and it wasn't Joe's name). A lot of comments have been deleted, but it might still be there.

Man. People need to wake up. Maybe the kid didn't deserve to die but if you believe ronan wasnt involved in anything crooked you have to believe burke didn't do it. And ronan didn't serve in the military burke did...

Good point MEZA!

Touché meza. I'm not stating that what happened should have at all. But if you can believe that joe wasnt involved, couldn't you believe that Burke wasnt either?

Yeah, and the only thing Burke ever did wrong was steal a candy bar...you people are a joke, and to ignorant to ever be commenting in public. Joe Ronan would never have hurt anyone. He was sweet and kind, and someone everyone loved. His death is a huge loss to his family and friends, whose lives will be forever changed due to the greed and stupidy of a few rats who will all be caught eventually. Karma guys...it will get ya!!

Thank you Kathy. Lots of you have things to say but don't have the guts to leave your names, cowards. Joe was a wonderful person who was loved by many. It's unfortunate that a few rats lied to save their own and it led to the death of a person who was genuine and loved by many. In the end, you will all know the truth and the people who are so quick to make ignorant comments will eat their words.

Some people may not feel okay about leaving their names because of the intense nature of the circumstances. The people they are talking about are not considered to be great people and yes I know that everyone is a great kid. But unfortunately they are great kids who got caught up in a lifestyle of drugs. It affects ANY family and no one likes to admit if their loved one has or had issues. I feel for the family of all included, but if you associate with individuals who live a certain way you are taking the risk.

Unfortunately, Joe Ronan may have been caught up in a bad group of "friends" but it will never justify what happened to him. He was trying to distance himself and do the right thing by becoming a marine. He was enthusiastic and privileged at the opportunity to protect his country. He was going to serve the United States in the Marine Corp, until someone stole that prideful opportunity away from him. Eventually the truth will come out surrounding this horrible situation and it will expose the true demons among us. RIP Joe, you're in a better place.

Let's not forget the other victims of the drug dealers (at one time nice kids themselves) selling this poison.

From the Reading Patch:
From 2003-2005, there were 110 opioid-related hospitalizations that involved Reading residents. There were 9 opiate-related deaths locally in that 2 year period and Reading was 1 of 10 communities in the northeast region of MA with the highest crude rate of opioid-related deaths.

The Reading Fire Department responded to 123 overdoses calls from 2005-2010 and administered Narcan in 59 of the 123 cases. The classification of a call as "overdose/poisoning" could be used for a person who intentionally or accidentally overdosed on anything from prescription medication to illicit overdoses. It is also used for acute alcohol intoxication.

Opiate overdoses represented about 38% of the 123 RFD calls.

The Reading Police Department responded to 79 overdose calls from 2005-2010. 70 of the 79 calls were for adult overdoses and 9 for juveniles. Information on deaths is unknown since many of these ended up being transported and are reflected in Fire numbers.

Ok first off drop the military card he didnt serve and yall are hypung it up Burley just recently finished 4 years of military service and yall arnt giving him no cudos for that. Second off no the ronnan didnt deserve to die but he wasent selling girl scout cookies and talking sunset walks on the beach. You associate yourself with bad people and do bad things then bad stuff will eventually happen. I agree with MEZA 100% on this. honestly quit bringing the military into this drug related conflict and yes people it was drug related.

ok, no one is playing the military card, all that was said was Joe was 4 weeks from going to Parris Island. If you and Meza have something to share about the drug related death of my son, I hope you have spoken to the police. I am proud of my son's decision to join the US Marine Corps. Paul Ronan, Joes' dad

if this dude had anything to do with Burke getting 20K stolen from him then he should have known that something bad was coming down the pipe his way especially if he knew Burke...and the family and media playing up the military hero and hockey star angle is ridiculous...if he was that good at hockey, he would have played in college and he never served a day in the military, furthermore if he was selling and using Percocet than he would have not lasted very long in the Marines, probably would have been denied at MEPS before going to boot camp

I understand that the comment was abrasive but that's why i said "if" he was involved in stealing 20K from Burke...if he didn't have anything to with it then it's a senseless loss of life...but i just found it offensive to people serving in the military to lump him in with them like he was some kind of war hero when he hadn't even gone to boot camp yet and may or may not have been involved grand larceny of a so-called friend of his...

I agree with a comment on another post........I may not agree with what you say but I will defend your right to say it. That's why I'm happy to live in this country. We have the freedom to express opinions even if some find them to be offensive or to be "bad mouthing" someone.

@Jesse James ... I think the purpose of touting his future with the Marines was to demonstrate that, whatever may have come before, his eyes were focused in the right direction. That's just my opinion. And for the record, it WAS a senseless loss of life, regardless of the circumstances.

Somehow I suspect the alleged 20K Burke had was not from working 40 hours a week in a job....and last I checked stealing didn't = murder. And while I profess to be no Miriam Webster I didn't see any "touting" of military service I saw one small reference to it.

tout (tout)
v. tout·ed, tout·ing, touts
v.intr.
1. To solicit customers, votes, or patronage, especially in a brazen way.
2. To obtain and deal in information on racehorses.
v.tr.
1. To solicit or importune: street vendors who were touting pedestrians.
2. Chiefly British To obtain or sell information on (a racehorse or stable) for the guidance of bettors.
3. To promote or praise energetically; publicize: "For every study touting the benefits of hormone therapy, another warns of the risks" (Yanick Rice Lamb).

However he allegedly acquired the 20K, doesn't justify stealing it...if Burke's story is true, not saying it is, but if it is then the person/persons involved deserved reprecussions...me personally, I wouldn't sacrifice 25 to life for 20K but I could see how a person could be mad or forced into dealing with that amount of theft...that's a lot of money, could be life changing type of money in the drug game

@jesse perhaps Burke should have gone to the local authorities to report the theft? Oh wait, you can't report stolen drug money can you? Let's get serious...however he came in to the 20K it goes without saying it wasn't from working at Target. Regardless of who may or may not have taken it there is no excuse for murder. Money doesn't change life....people change their life. I think believing that illegal "reprecussions" have any place in society is ridiculous. That's my final word on the topic....the legal system will play out but two families will forever be destroyed.

I think we need to wait for the trial to unfold before we speculate and pass judgement. Either way, Joe did not deserve to die. He could have been your son, too, and how would you feel if people were bashing your dead son without having all of the facts! There is no justification for cold-blooded murder! Bottom line! Have respect for his grieving family and the fact that he is not here to defend himself. Wait for the trial, where all supported evidence of the facts will be made known.

"In 2008, among persons with substance dependence or abuse, the proportion with dependence on or abuse of illicit drugs also was associated with age: 60.6% of youths aged 12 to 17 were dependent on or abused drugs compared with 37.4 percent of young adults aged 18 to 25 and 24.3% of adults aged 26 or older." comes from http://www.inspirationsyouth.com/Teen-Addiction-Statistics.asp

What are the odds of your son or daughter getting involved in drugs? They're surrounded by it every day! Drugs are being sold in their schools! My own nephew witnessed the selling of drugs in his school & was afraid for his life even though his involvement was just the knowledge of what was going on! He knew if he reported it his life would be in danger! Nobody is immune to this. I know too many people who have been affected by this. Think about this when you criticize or pass judgement on Joe, especially in the absence of hard evidence & facts, which will soon come out during the trial. Instead, pray that it never happens to you & count your blessings if it hasn't. Because the odds are high that in some way, parents will be impacted by this with their own sons & daughters! Instead, pray for Joe & his family & understand what they are going through. Joe did not deserve to die. His parents did not deserve to lose him. Put yourself in their shoes & don't bash their dead son. It could happen to you. Please have respect. Let the trial unfold. Let everyone grieve Joe in peace.