As they left a Boston courtroom yesterday, the sister of a slain man and the mother of his killer briefly hugged each other, symbolizing the hope that the civil war that tore through the city's Cape Verdean community ended in a peaceful embrace.
The hug took place after Arnaldo "Nardo" Lopes was sentenced to eight to 12 years in prison for stabbing Bobby Mendes to death on a Dorchester Street on Oct. 10, 1995.
Mendes's death - and Lopes's flight from the city that lasted 12 years - spawned years of retaliatory violence that Boston law enforcement authorities estimate has led to two dozen killings and dozens of shootings.
"When my brother died," Mendes's sister, Barbara Vicente said in court, "there was so much violence. So much people hurt, so many died. . . . I hope while he [Lopes] is away, nothing else happens, [that] somehow we can come together."
Mendes's younger brother Pompilio "Steve" Mendes also delivered a victim impact statement, sometimes fighting to keep his composure as he spoke. At one point, he held up a hand, a gold ring visible, and said his older brother wore it when he was stabbed by Lopes.
"It's been 13 years of uncertainty, of not knowing what was coming to my family. Only God knows what we've endured," he said. "We turn to Him to have closure in this very dark hour for both of our families."
Steve Mendes said his brother "never died. He was just reborn."
The most powerful emotions shown were by Mendes's mother, Isaura, who has endured the loss of her eldest son, Bobby, and the killing of a second son, Alex. She has used her pain to push for peace on Boston's streets.
She addressed Lopes by the nickname she has used for him since he was a child, Nardu.
"I wish you luck, Nardu. I have asked God to protect you in jail," Mendes said. "I forgive you for everything you've done. I have to forgive Him so I can forgive myself because God forgives every day of our lives."
Lopes, meanwhile, sat largely motionless throughout the 45-minute sentencing hearing. He kept his hands, bound by metal handcuffs, clasped on his lap with his right leg crossed over his left, giving the appearance of being relaxed.
He remained dry-eyed as others cried and clenched his jaw when a loudly weeping Isaura Mendes was guided by a court officer away from the witness stand and back to her seat to await Suffolk Superior Court Judge Linda Giles's sentence.
Lopes took the stand during the trial, but left it to his lawyer, Kevin J. Reddington, to speak for him.
"Yes, he started a new life, but how could you blame him?" Reddington said, noting that two defense witnesses testified that Bobby Mendes had a violent temper.
Reddington emphasized that Lopes was never arrested during his years on the run.
"If he would walk out of here today, he would do nothing other than go back to his wife and his house and his dog and his cats and work," Reddington said.
Lopes's mother, Maria, sat with her head down, holding a Portuguese language Bible tightly with her head covered by a white and blue scarf, as if she were sitting in a church pew, not a courtroom a few feet from her manacled son.
She told a Globe reporter that some of the prosecution witnesses who testified against her son were not truthful, and that she put her trust in God to deal with those people. She also directed a reporter to Psalms 91 and 93, which tell of the paramount importance of belief in God.
After the sentencing, Maria Lopes and other relatives declined to comment.
Another son, Augusto "Gus" Lopes is in federal prison serving a 10-year sentence under a plea deal that required him to admit he participated in three retaliatory killings.
Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said he has known Isaura Mendes since he took office seven years ago.
"She is a beacon of hope and peace, and I hope that message will be heard today by Nardo Lopes and by the young men" now engaged in violence in the city, Conley said. "Let's hope that today begins a new day of healing in Dorchester and the Cape Verdean community."
From the bench, Giles gave an intense explanation of her sentence, first by acknowledging the loss and pain suffered by Isaura Mendes and her family.
"With a single thrust of a formidable deadly weapon, the defendant ripped apart not only Bobby Mendes's chest, but also the fabric of his family and community," Giles said.
But, "this horrific act was a single lethal blow administered by an intoxicated teenager in a chaotic situation, albeit one arguably of his own making. Perhaps most importantly, the defendant, after leaving the mean streets of his Boston neighborhood, has led a productive life. He has worked steadily, gotten married, and stayed out of trouble."
She added, "It is my heartfelt desire that, in this case, justice may have been delayed but is not denied to either side."
© Copyright 2008 Globe Newspaper Company.
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Bobby Mendes's mother, Isaura, held up a news report about her son during her victim impact statement yesterday. Arnaldo Lopes was somber as his lawyer spoke before the sentencing. (George Rizer/ Globe Staff) 
