16-year-old Lee Manuel Viloria-Paulino was found decapitated alongside Merrimack River, Massachusetts Thursday (December 1). His killer, classmate Mathew Borges, has been arrested for the crime, and now Paulino’s family is speaking out.

The teen’s family spoke with the media and says the police were negligible in handling the case. They claim Lee Manuel was missing for weeks and his disappearance wasn’t looked into seriously enough.

“We are poor, we are Hispanic, they considered this a normal runaway case,” Ivelisse Cornielle, Paulino’s grandmother told the Boston Globe. “I told them from day one that it wasn’t.”

The District Attorney’s office has responded to news of the gruesome crime. They say they’ll be using every resource they can to find out what happened and resolve it.

“This was a horrific, horrific murder,” D.A. Jonathan Blodgett told a crowd at a press conference outside Lawrence District Court Saturday afternoon. “While it shook the community, we were completely and totally resolved to bring this matter to justice.”

Lee Manuel Viloria-Paulino is from a black-Latino family. Mathew Borges was arrested after investigators found evidence at his home linking him to the crime. Cornielle wonders what would’ve happened had police moved faster in attempting to find her grandson.

Watch a video package done by local Boston’s WCVB about the aftermath of Lee Manuel Viloria-Paulino’s killing below.