Cops: Medford shooting victim's condition 'stabilized'

Daniel Guevara, a Medford man shot and critically injured by his mother's boyfriend after a domestic dispute, has stabilized at Stony Brook University Medical Center, police said Monday.

Guevara, 27, who lives with his mother on Rustic Avenue, was shot in the chest Sunday afternoon by Charles Kennedy, 66, who then turned the gun on himself, police said. Guevara was taken to Stony Brook while Kennedy was found dead at the scene, police said.

A hospital spokeswoman said Guevara remains in critical condition, but Det. Sgt. Thomas Groneman said Guevara "looks like he may make it." The shooting remains under investigation, he said.

Kennedy, who also lived at the Rustic Avenue home, shot Guevara after a dispute with Guevara's mother, Lynda Wenlund, police said. Wenlund told Kennedy that she didn't want Kennedy - who had just returned home from alcohol treatment - living at the home anymore, police said.

Kennedy had struggled with addiction to alcohol and painkillers, said a cousin of Guevara, Fredrick Beondo of Richmond Hill.

The couple "had a contentious relationship." Beondo said. "We were all raised in a family where family comes first."

Groneman said there were prior calls for routine domestic disturbances at Wenlund's house, but nothing that indicated a major incident.

Neither Wenlund, Kennedy nor Guevara had an order of protection against them, and none of the three have criminal histories, public records showed.

Guevara works at a Taco Bell and a Target store in the Medford area and enjoys martial arts and Japanese animation, Beondo said. Beondo described Guevara as "pretty good about keeping his life in order."

Kennedy was a partyboat captain out of Captree State Park in Babylon, police have said.

A neighbor, Jack O'Toole, described Kennedy as "definitely a solid guy" He added: "We were really shocked."