Two men indicted for murder of pregnant woman found in Carbuncle Pond
An indictment, information, or complaint is merely an allegation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Attorney General Peter F. Neronha and Colonel Darnell S. Weaver announced today that the Statewide Grand Jury returned an indictment charging two Rhode Island men with the murder of Leila Duarte Da Luz, whose body was recovered from Carbuncle Pond in Coventry on December 21, 2022.
On September 6, 2023, the Statewide Grand Jury returned indictments charging Michael Lambert (age 46) of Pawtucket and Gary Gromkiewicz (age 36) of Lincoln each with one count of murder and one count of conspiracy to commit murder.
The defendants are currently being held without bail at the Adult Correctional Institutions and are scheduled to be arraigned in Kent County Superior Court on September 29, 2023.
As alleged in court proceedings, at approximately 2:30 a.m. on December 21, 2022, Gromkiewicz and Lambert, who met in prison, traveled to Brockton, Mass. to pick up the victim at her home. The victim and Gromkiewicz were alleged to have been dating at the time, and the victim was pregnant with his child. According to cell phone location data, they then drove throughout Rhode Island over the course of the morning, making multiple stops at gas stations and convenience stores as captured on surveillance footage. At approximately 5:15 a.m., video surveillance obtained from a convenience store in Lincoln shows Lambert closely examining his left hand, which appeared to have a recent laceration or abrasion on the knuckles.
As further alleged, cell phone location data then tracked their travel to western Coventry, in an area where Carbuncle Pond is located, and where the victim’s body was later recovered.
As alleged, the victim was found by a local fisherman in Carbuncle Pond, beneath the ice, with lacerations on her head. According to the medical examiner’s report, the victim had water in her lungs, indicating she was alive when she entered the water.
Detectives James Hudson and Robert Hopkins of the Rhode Island State Police and Criminal Division Chief Stephen Dambruch and Assistant Attorney General John Corrigan of the Office of the Attorney General are leading the investigation and prosecution of the case.
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