A jury cleared Peter Carvalho of murder in the 2014 shooting death of his one-time friend, Shannon Richardson Jr.
Richardson was shot around 1:25 p.m. on May 21, 2014, as he walked down Dudley Street in Dorchester. He died at Boston Medical Center.
Prosecutors argued that witnesses put Carvalho at the scene of the shooting:
Assistant District Attorney Tara Burdman said in court that witnesses saw Richardson walking down a pathway from Humphreys Street toward Dudley Street about 1:25 p.m., looking over his shoulder at two men following him.
One of the men, described by witnesses as having shoulder-length dreadlocks and wearing a half-buttoned blue shirt with a white T-shirt visible underneath, pointed his gun at Richardson and fired several times before fleeing with the other man in the opposite direction.
Richardson made it into a store on Dudley Street, where he collapsed.
In addition to first-degree murder, Carvalho was charged with unlawful possession of both a firearm and ammunition.
The Suffolk County district attorney released a short statement on the acquittal:
BOSTON, July 31, 2015—A Suffolk Superior Court jury today acquitted a Dorchester man accused of shooting 25-year-old Shannon Richardson on Dudley Street last year.
Jurors acquitted PETER CARVALHO (D.O.B. 8/11/88) today after a two-week trial in which prosecutors sought to prove that he shot Richardson while attempting to shoot at another man on May 21, 2014. Independent witnesses gave a description of the gunman that matched Carvalho.
Richardson – a one-time friend of Carvalho – was shot multiple times and collapsed in a nearby store. He later died of his injuries at Boston Medical Center.
Two Boston Police officers patrolling the area shortly after the gunfire saw Carvalho running while clutching his waistband, which they recognized from their training as a characteristic of an armed gunman. Officers began to pursue Carvalho, who ran straight into the store where Richardson lay dying, prosecutors said.
Carvalho was represented by attorney Kelli Porges.
