Dismissal of earlier case against Shrewsbury shooting suspect tied to prosecution mistake

WESTBORO, Mass. — The person accused of killing a Shrewsbury father could have been behind bars had evidence been presented during a previous trial.

Boston25 has obtained court audio from that previous trial, which indicates the case was dismissed because the prosecution didn’t have the evidence they needed.

Snehal Srivastava is accused of shooting and killing 57-year-old Kevin Doherty on Aug. 28. However, that incident isn’t Srivastava’s first run-in with police. In fact, they have a rich criminal history, including an incident back in 2022 when Srivastava was accused of attacking someone with a machete in a movie theatre parking lot. The 2022 case didn’t make it to trial until July 2025, when the case was dismissed due to “failure to prosecute.”

In the court audio, Westborough District Court Judge Jennifer Stark can be heard telling the prosecutor, who, according to the Worcester County DA’s office, was Joseph Reilly, “You can’t go forward?”

Reilly confirms the situation and Stark can be heard saying “The case is dismissed due to lack of prosecution.”

What led up to that decision was a mix-up of evidence by the state prosecutor who intended to use a 9-1-1 call to prove Srivastava’s identity.

Reilly tells the judge, “The commonwealth’s proposal is to play for the court the 911 excited utterance. There was an identification of the license plate of the assailant and that was provided over the air via a bolo. It was received by Shrewsbury Police. Lt. Michael Vitols of that department is well familiar with the defendant. He went to his residence, the car with that plate was found running in the driveway of the defendant’s residence. The defendant was in the backyard; he meets the general description that the alleged victim would be able to provide of the assailant...Your honor, I do need to set up the player for the 911 that’s not here.”

Judge Stark put the court into a recess to allow Galvin to set up the recorder he needed to play the 911 call for the court. However, when he came back, there was no recording.

“The case, your honor, as you can see is almost three years old. There was discovery that was requested of the Westborough Police Department. I don’t have that 9-1-1 call,” Galvin told Judge Stark.

But according to the Westborough Police Chief Todd Minardi, his department has no record of any discovery request for the 911 tape in the last two years. He wrote, “If we received a request before that, we would have complied as we always do.”

The question remains, had there not been an evidence mix-up and Srivastava’s trial was able to move forward, would the 26-year-old have been able to allegedly kill a Shrewsbury father?

Boston25 reached out to the Worcester County District Attorney’s office with that question, though they said they’re unable to comment as the defendant currently has a case before the court.

Boston25 also reached out to Srivastava’s attorney for the machete attack case, Michael Murray. He said the case was handled properly but raised questions about the state’s mental health system, a topic the judge covered with Srivastava that day in court.

Judge Stark can be heard asking Srivastava, “Have you ever been diagnosed with mental health illnesses?” Srivastava replies, “I haven’t been diagnosed.” Judge Stark follows up with “Do you have any mental health issues?” to which Srivastava replies, “I guess.”

Srivastava is due back in court on Sept. 12.

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