SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WGGB/WSHM) – He was getting a pedicure at the Holyoke Mall when a stranger pulled out a gun and threatened his life. He fired back — and an innocent man died. After more than three years behind bars, a Springfield man has been sentenced, and a landmark ruling that changed Massachusetts self-defense law made it possible. Kenneth Santana Rodriguez has been waiting for this day since January 2023, more than 1,200 days in jail. On Thursday, May 21st, that wait finally ended.
Kenneth Santana Rodriguez pleaded guilty Thursday to involuntary manslaughter for the death of Trung Tran — a nail technician at the touch of beauty salon inside the Holyoke Mall, who was struck by a stray bullet and killed back in 2023.
Rodriguez had a legal license to carry. He fired twice at the man threatening him. One bullet went astray. Western Mass News spoke with Rodriguez's attorney Dan Hagan following the change of plea Thursday, “I think tragic sums it up. This is tragic. There's no winner here. Everybody lost. Mr. Tran lost. Mr. Rodriguez, who was defending his life, had seconds to act and did so. Obviously, he's paid a price for it. And the real perpetrator who did this wasn't the one in court today. The person who's most responsible for what happened is not the one in court.â€
That plea was only possible because of a landmark Massachusetts Supreme Court ruling last October. For the first time in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the state's highest court took up the question: if you legally defend your life and an innocent bystander is killed, can you be charged with murder?
“In 250 years of Commonwealth history, it was never established where, if you're defending yourself against an attacker and, unfortunately, an innocent bystander is killed during that, you can use self-defense as a defense to the killing of the bystander. And what the court said was that you can, if you are defending yourself, you can. It's not murder,†Attorney Dan Hagan said.
The judge sentenced Rodriguez to three to five years in state prison — a sentence he has already served. Attorney Hagan told Western Mass News he expects his client to be up for parole almost immediately, “Really the most important thing is saving Mr. Rodriguez's life, the fact that he's able to get home to his family and not spend the rest of his life in jail, that's a reward in itself.â€
Rodriguez's daughter was six years old when he went to jail, she's nine now. Trang's family was not in court today and the Commonwealth said they harbor no ill will toward Rodriguez.
But one question remains unanswered: the man police say started all of this — who brandished a gun and threatened Rodriguez that night — has never been charged. His attorney says he does not expect that to ever change.
Copyright 2026 Western Mass News (WGGB/WSHM). All rights reserved.
