William Earl was officially indicted for first-degree murder Friday for the fatal January stabbing of 19-year-old Samuel Constant, prosecutors said.
Earl, 20, was arraigned Jan. 10 in West Roxbury District Court. Friday’s indictment moves the case to Suffolk Superior Court.
Earl allegedly stabbed Constant multiple times outside of Constant’s girlfriend’s Hyde Park apartment, according to prosecutors’ official statement of the case. Responders found Constant with stab wounds to his face and chest area, and pronounced him dead at the scene.
An autopsy determined Constant died of the stab wounds, prosecutors said.
Earl was arrested shortly after the alleged attack and allegedly confessed to a security guard who apprehended him.
“I just killed someone, and if you walk straight ahead, you’re going to find something,” prosecutors allege Earl said to the Longwood Security officer.
Constant’s girlfriend allegedly witnessed the beginning of the purported Jan. 9 attack inside her Margaretta Drive apartment, according the official allegations.
The girlfriend allegedly found Earl with Constant when she arrived home from work, the documents says. Earl, who she did not know, was allegedly “acting in an odd manner that made her feel uncomfortable,” according to the court document.
Earl and Constant allegedly began to fight after Earl pulled out a knife and began acting in a way that made Constant’s girlfriend feel threatened, prosecutors say.
During the alleged fight, Earl tried to stab Constant and his girlfriend, the official allegations say. The girlfriend told authorities she opened the apartment door, and Earl ran out with Constant chasing him.
A witness outside saw the two men running and one of them collapse in the parking lot outside the apartment building, according to prosecutors.
Earl allegedly continued to run down the road, where a security guard spotted him attempting to stop traffic on Margaretta Drive near Crowne Point Drive, prosecutors said.
The guard apprehended Earl while he was trying to flee into the woods, the allegations say.
Earl allegedly told detectives he had been attacked, and claimed he had been stabbed and shot, prosecutors say. Earl denied to the police that he knew someone named Sam, and said he did not remember what happened that night because he was high, the state’s allegations say.
Investigators allegedly found Earl’s phone in a search of the Margaretta Drive apartment.
Earl pleaded innocent to the charges at his district court arraignment. He has been held without bail ever since. His attorney, Anthony Fugate, did not respond to a request for comment.
Constant’s death was Boston’s first homicide of 2014.
From the Suffolk district attorney’s office, Feb. 21, 2014:
BOSTON, Feb. 21, 2014—The Mattapan man charged in last month’s stabbing death of 19-year-old Samuel Constant has been indicted for first-degree murder and will remain held without bail pending trial, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.
WILLIAM EARL (D.O.B. 8/9/93) was arraigned yesterday on a charge of first-degree murder in connection with the Jan. 9 fatal stabbing in West Roxbury. Constant’s murder marked Boston’s first homicide of 2014.
At the request of Assistant District Attorney Tara Burdman, Clerk Magistrate Gary Wilson ordered that Earl continue to be held without bail, as he has since his arraignment last month in West Roxbury District Court. Yesterday’s arraignment moves the case from the district court to Suffolk Superior Court, where it will be adjudicated.
Burdman told the court that, on the day of the killing, Constant’s girlfriend arrived at her apartment to find the victim and the defendant, whom she did not know. Constant and Earl became involved in a physical struggle after Earl allegedly pulled out a knife and repeatedly stabbed at Constant, who attempted to dodge the knife, prosecutors said. Earl then ran from the apartment and Constant chased after him onto Margaretta Drive.
During the altercation, Burdman said, Constant suffered multiple stab wounds that perforated his lung and an artery. He collapsed in parking lot and died of his injuries.
Earl was apprehended by a Longwood Security officer patrolling the area and was transported to Brigham and Women’s Hospital for treatment of injuries to his left ear and head.Jen Sears is the DA’s assigned victim-witness advocate. Earl is represented by Anthony Fugate.
A copy of Earl’s indictment has been added below.
