18, 19-year-old plead guilty in 2024 Dorchester killing

Two young men pleaded guilty to manslaughter Tuesday for their roles in the 2024 shooting deaths of a Dorchester father and son that left the father dead, prosecutors said.

Manuel Guerrero, 19, and Luis Perez, 18, pleaded guilty to manslaughter, armed assault to murder and home invasion a week before their scheduled jury trial, Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden’s office said in a news release.

Both were sentenced to 18 to 22 years in prison, followed by two years of probation, Hayden’s office said.

On August 12, 2024, the couple was seen leaving their rented Kia Forte near Trent and Clarkson streets. The prosecutor said surveillance cameras showed Perez and Guerrero walking to the third floor of 5 Trent Street.

The two knocked on the apartment door, and Ludis Concepcion, 20, answered. As soon as Concepcion saw the defendant’s weapons, he violently slammed the door, prosecutors said.

One of the defendants fired two shots through the door, hitting Concepcion in the arm, the DA said.

Concepcion’s father, Ludis Mejia Sanchez, 49, heard gunshots from outside and ran upstairs to his son. Guerrero and Perez fled back down the stairs and shot Sanchez in the chest, killing him, prosecutors said.

“Both men are accused of shooting the father and son, although it is unclear who actually fired the shots,” Hayden’s office said.

Surveillance cameras captured the faces of the defendants after they escaped from the residential complex. A few days later, the Kia was found in a Zipcar parking spot, the prosecutor said. GPS data from the rental car and from a GPS monitoring bracelet Perez wore in an unrelated armed robbery showed the men’s location, Hayden’s office said.

Mejia-Sanchez was remembered in court by the family as a “community leader, someone who selflessly touched the lives of countless people and always put others first,” prosecutors said.

“My deepest condolences to the family and friends of Ludis Mejia Sanchez, whose last act in life was his courageous attempt to help his son,” Hayden said.

Lawyers for both Guerrero and Perez did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday night.