Solo says he believes Colono’s parents were “somewhat confused” about how to best support their family and that he and the school’s parent coordinator visited the Colonos’ home on several occasions to offer assistance.

“Various teachers and people put a lot of energy, a lot of time, a lot of support into Michael,” he says. “Yet we always saw that he could sort of go either way in his life. He would be a really good kid, yet we saw that there was something in him that was pulling him the other way.”

But Solo says Colono was a “sweet, sincere kid” who tried to do the right thing.

“He was somebody who really understood that we were trying really hard to help him and to support him,” Solo says.

Marcus Colono agrees that his brother struggled in school but says he never got upset about it.

“Like everyone else, he was always challenged by his classes,” Marcus Colono says. “He didn’t stress too much and [teachers] always helped him out. He never had a problem with the school system.”

Colono continued to receive support during high school at Cambridge Rindge and Latin School (CRLS) through the Challenge Prep program.

Bill F. Timmins, a teacher in the program, says the goal is to help a small group of students who are behind in credits, have frequent absences and would benefit from a less traditional setting.

“We try to get kids back, and if they can’t get back, we assist them in some way to get them into another kind of educational or training program,” Timmins says.

Colono spent a year in Challenge Prep because of attendance issues, and Timmins says he worked hard and “always had a smile on his face.”

After his long-time girlfriend Cindy Guzman gave birth to their daughter, Jade, in 2000, Colono dropped out of high school to work, later earning a GED.

Marcus Colono says his brother felt it was important to support his family, but his decision to leave CRLS wasn’t solely because of his daughter.

Colono had worked as a cook at the Tavern on the Charles restaurant at the Days Inn in Brighton, Mass. for several months, and his brother says he hoped to become a carpenter.

“He was focused on trying to be a good father,” Timmins says. “He was very loyal to his girlfriend.”

‘His Pride and Joy’