By Suzanne Smalley, Globe Staff
December 25, 2004

A 20-year-old Mattapoisett man died early yesterday from head and internal injuries after falling from a balcony at a party in Mission Hill, the latest tragedy involving a college student in Greater Boston.

Jacob ''Jake" Garro, a high school football and baseball star, was studying to be an airplane mechanic at East Coast Aerotech in Bedford. He died after tumbling over the railing of a rickety wooden deck of a weatherbeaten three-decker on Iroquois Street early Thursday morning.

He was at a party celebrating the end of the semester.

''I knew him since seventh grade," said William Rossi, a 20-year-old student at Wentworth Institute of Technology who was at the party with his best friend. ''Everyone loved Jake, and I mean everyone."

Rossi lived in the apartment with Ben Couto, 21, a Northeastern University student, and two students Rossi said attended the University of Massachusetts at Boston -- 21-year-old Matthew Raynard and 20-year-old Ryan Muldoon. Garro often stayed there, Rossi said.

Rossi, Couto, Raynard, and Muldoon were all issued summonses to appear in West Roxbury District Court, police said, where they could face charges of serving alcohol to minors. Police spokesman John Boyle said police seized a copy of an invitation to the party and a half keg of Budweiser from the building.

Garro's death comes as Boston police, Suffolk County prosecutors, and local universities are paying close attention to drinking on and around college campuses following the October death of Victoria Snelgrove, an Emerson College junior who died as police tried to disperse drunk students celebrating the Red Sox' American League championship on Lansdowne Street.

Boston police and Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley recently announced a crackdown on parties and alcohol use by underage college students, leading to two high-profile busts at large gatherings in Allston this month.

Boston police officials said homicide investigators believe Garro's death appears to be an accident. Members of Garro's family gathered yesterday at their Mattapoisett home. ''We really don't want to say anything," Jon Garro, Jacob's older brother, said when reached at his mother's house. ''We're just trying to be with family."

Garro's death is especially difficult for Rossi. The two young men started a landscaping business last summer--they called it WJ Landscaping, for Will and Jake. Yesterday, Rossi recalled the Allman Brothers and Dave Matthews Band concerts he and Garro had attended and all the mulching and mowing they did together.

Rossi was at the party when Garro fell 20 feet onto a first-floor deck, which was stacked with a grill, a grocery cart, a plush pink chair, and a sheet of plywood.

Police interviewed party guests. A witness who was smoking a cigarette with Garro on the deck said Garro put his arm over the railing before he fell, police said. The witness then turned away before Garro fell.

''He said he yelled to him and the victim did not move. The witness ran downstairs and saw the victim motionless," Boyle said.

Ellen Nash, who lives next door, said her young neighbors are frequent party hosts. ''I talked to two of them at the beginning of the semester about having loud parties, because this is a very residential neighborhood," Nash said. ''They were very polite, but they had a party the very first weekend, so we started calling 911."

Nash said Wednesday night's party was smaller than usual -- only a dozen cars were parked in front of the house. Nash slept through most of the party but woke up around 1:15 and heard police sirens. Nash shuffled back to bed, waking up the next morning to college students crying and hugging in the street in front of her house.

Garro, a catcher, loved Jason Varitek, Rossi said. The group of friends watched the Red Sox' World Series victory parade together from a favored spot on the riverbank.

Craig Sherman, the football coach at Old Rochester Regional High School, where Garro captained the football team, cried yesterday as he spoke about Garro, one of six children in that family who has played for him.

''He was just a gentleman -- a quiet kid, but a fierce competitor," Sherman said.

Globe correspondents Lindsay Crone and Glenn Yoder contributed to this report. Suzanne Smalley can be reached at ssmalley@globe.com
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