Fall River attorney known as Norfolk County special prosecutor in Turtleboy case passes away

A well-known attorney in the Fall River area and beyond has passed away, according to friends of the deceased.

Kenneth Mello was a Massachusetts attorney based in Fall River who had practiced law for more than four decades.

Mello operated the Law Office of Kenneth Mello on Durfee Street focusing on criminal defense, personal injury, family law, workers’ compensation, probate, municipal law, civil rights, business law, and labor law.

In recent years, Mello gained wider public attention when he was appointed as a special prosecutor by the Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office to handle certain witness intimidation cases against blogger Aidan Kearney (known as “Turtleboy”). These cases arose in connection with Kearney’s coverage of the Karen Read murder case. Mello was later disqualified from at least one of the matters after a judge determined that his communications with a witness made him a potential witness himself. Some of the cases involving Kearney have since been dropped or reassigned.

In April 2026, Mello faced a criminal charge of threatening to commit a crime stemming from an alleged incident at Charlton Memorial Hospital in Fall River which had since been dropped.

Mello previously served as a member and chair of the Somerset Board of Selectmen during the early 1990s.

Services have not yet been announced.