“Full notifications were requested and Homicide Detectives responded and led the investigation,” the police spokesperson said.
At an arraignment hearing Friday morning in Boston Municipal Court in West Roxbury, Hurst pleaded not guilty to a murder charge, court records show. Hurst was declared indigent and a lawyer was appointed to represent him.
Another hearing was held at noon. Hurst appeared via Zoom from Tufts Medical Center, court filings said.
Judge Maureen S. Flaherty ordered Hurst held without bail at Suffolk County Jail and scheduled a probable cause hearing for Sept. 17.
A criminal complaint and the prosecution’s “statement of the facts” were filed Friday. Copies were not available online.
Details about the victim were revealed in court Friday, according to media reports.
Prosecutors said Stephen Gomes was badly beaten with “significant and multiple fractures” to his face when his body was discovered under a bed on July 6, Hoodline.com reported.
Prosecutors also disclosed Hurst’s violent history, the news outlet reported.
Worcester Superior Court records show that Hurst was indicted for a March 2007 murder, and a year later pleaded guilty to the lesser offense of manslaughter.
Immediately after the indictment, Hurst spent a period of time as a psychiatric patient at Bridgewater State Hospital, court filings show.
On May 8, 2008, the same day he took the plea discount, Hurst was sentenced to 18 to 20 years in state prison with credit for 434 days, court documents said.
Hurst was released on Oct. 31, 2022 to a sober home in Brockton, according to filings from the Massachusetts Department of Corrections.
In March 2007, the Worcester Telegram & Gazette reported that Hurst, then 24, was arrested for the strangulation death of his fiancée.
Katherine MacDougall, 23, was three months pregnant when she died in the couple’s apartment. Hurst spent at least two nights there with the body, the newspaper reported.
Hurst also has a pending criminal case in Wrentham District Court for allegations of animal cruelty. He pleaded guilty on Sept. 5, 2024 and was placed on probation, court records show.
Hurst’s new murder charge has triggered a probation violation in that case, according to court records.
Tonya Alanez can be reached at tonya.alanez@globe.com. Follow her @talanez.
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