Almost two years after 23-year-old Brianna J. Bigby was gunned down in a double shooting while sitting in a car on a Saturday afternoon in Roxbury, a second suspect was arraigned for her murder.
Brianna J. Bigby
Rasheem Christian, 24, pleaded innocent Tuesday to first-degree murder for the June 1, 2013, shooting that left Bigby dead at the scene and her 23-year-old companion wounded but alive. The pair were sitting in a sedan near 310 Walnut Avenue in Roxbury, according to the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office.
Christian was held without bail and is due in court June 25, said Jake Wark, a spokesman for the district attorney.
In addition to murder, Christian is charged with armed assault with intent to murder, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, accessory after the fact to murder, and firearms charges, Wark said.
Christian is the second person charged in Bigby’s murder. Anthony Howard, 28, has been held without bail since his July 10, 2014, arraignment, when he was charged with first-degree murder, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, and armed assault with intent to murder.
Howard is also charged with two counts of armed assault with intent to murder for allegedly shooting two other men earlier in the day of Bigby’s death.
The Boston Globe covered the shooting after it happened. According to family quoted, Bigby held two jobs — one at a bank and the other at a shelter — and her companion was a boyfriend.
Bigby’s high school, Concord-Carlisle High School, published a retrospective piece detailing her academic achievements and outgoing personality.
Her obituary can be read via the Boston Herald.
The district attorney’s office’s full press release is below:
Second Suspect in Custody for 2013 Shooting that Left Woman Dead, Man Injured
BOSTON, May 18, 2015—Boston Police Commissioner William B. Evans and Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley today announced that a second man has been arrested following his indictment in connection with the 2013 murder of Brianna Bigby.
A Suffolk County grand jury on May 8 returned indictments charging RASHEEM CHRISTIAN (D.O.B. 1/31/91) with first-degree murder, armed assault with intent to murder, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, accessory after the fact to murder, unlawful possession of a firearm, unlawful possession of ammunition, and carrying a loaded firearm. He is additionally charged as a Level I armed career criminal based on a 2011 conviction in Suffolk Superior Court for distribution of a Class D substance. Boston Police arrested him today after he surrendered himself on a warrant that issued with the indictment.
Christian is expected to be arraigned tomorrow in the Magistrate’s Session of Suffolk Superior Court.
Bigby and a male companion were shot as they sat in a vehicle in the area of 310 Walnut Ave. in Roxbury on the afternoon of June 1, 2013. Since that date, Boston Police homicide detectives and Suffolk prosecutors have conducted an exhaustive investigation that linked Christian and another man, ANTHONY HOWARD (D.O.B. 10/5/86), to the shooting through cell phone records, witness interviews, ballistics, and other evidence.
Howard faces charges of first-degree murder, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, and armed assault with intent to murder as well as two counts of armed assault with intent to murder for allegedly shooting two other men earlier on the day of Bigby’s murder. He is also charged with unlawful possession of a firearm as a second offense in light of a 2006 gun conviction. He has remained held without bail since his Roxbury District Court arraignment on July 10, 2014.
