Commonwealth v. Rivera

**260 On the evening of February 15, 2015, Omar Mendez confirmed his intention to end a long-term relationship with the defendant, and began packing his bags to leave. Following a heated argument between the two men, the defendant stabbed Mendez to death in the bedroom of their apartment, before attempting to end his own life. The defendant argued at trial that he should be convicted of voluntary manslaughter due to mitigating circumstances, such as heat of passion. A Superior Court jury, however, returned a verdict of murder in the first degree on theories of deliberate premeditation and…