Homicide Watch Boston

A man was shot and killed at a cookout over the weekend in Dorchester.

The incident happened Saturday around 11:15 p.m. at 8 York St., just a block from the man’s family’s home, according to the Associated Press.

Ronnie Headley, 33, was with others celebrating a friend’s birthday when he was shot, according to the Boston Globe. A neighbor reported hearing four shots, then seeing Headley lying in the street near a driveway.

Neighbors and then paramedics tried to resuscitate Headley, but he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Friends and family members told the Globe that Headley was an outgoing man who loved food and spending time with family.

Police have not made any arrests in connection with Headley’s death. Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call Boston Police homicide detectives at 617-434-4470. Anonymous tips can be left by calling the CrimeStoppers Tip Line, 1-800-494-TIPS, or by texting the word ‘TIP’ to CRIME (27463).

Christopher Jackson, the 29-year-old man convicted last week of killing his childhood friend Keosha Gilmore in February of 2012, was sentenced to life in prison on Tuesday.

Gilmore, 25, was shot Feb. 19 while sitting in a car with her boyfriend on Alabama Street in Mattapan. At the time of the murder, police did not have a suspect but did collect the gun, latex gloves and other items from near the scene of the crime. The case remained unsolved until April 2013, when officers arrested Jackson. Gilmore’s murder was featured on FOX 25’s New England’s Unsolved in 2013, which her family says led to a tip which led to Jackson’s arrest.

Keosha Gilmore

When police interviewed Jackson, they obtained a sample of his DNA, which matched the items police found in a nearby cemetery after the murder. In a second interview with police, Jackson admitted to discarding the items, and said he “made the mistake of letting my anger overshadow my intelligence.”

In court at the sentencing, Gilmore’s friends and relatives read victim impact statements that conveyed just how much Keosha’s loved ones miss her.

“She was a friend to everyone she met – including Mr. Christopher Jackson. She was sensitive to other’s needs, compassionate, caring, and non-judgmental,” her mother said. “I will never see Keosha get married. I’ll never be a grandmother to her children. She’ll never be a wife or a mother herself. We’ll never know what her future would have been …. I feel like a part of me is missing. It’s like a limb is gone.”

Gilmore’s best friend also read an impact statement to the court, calling her friend an “amazing, kind-hearted, understanding, all-around angel from God.”

Jackson, whom a jury convicted of second-degree murder, received an automatic sentence of life in prison with the possibility of parole after 15 years. In addition to murder, the jury convicted Jackson of multiple gun charges. A judge ordered him to serve six to seven years for those crimes, concurrently.

Three men have been arrested in connection with a shooting that killed two people in 2014.

Teasia Montgomery

On April 14, Steven Stephen, 26, and Tony Evans, 25, were arraigned in Suffolk Superior Court. Both men were charged with two counts of first-degree murder and one count of unlawful possession of a firearm in relation to the murder of Clarence McGregor and Teasia Montgomery. Stephen was already in state custody on an unrelated gun charge, and police arrested Evans in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Last week, a third suspect, 29-year-old Lorenzo Jones Jr., was arrested in Augusta, Georgia. He is also charged with two counts of first-degree murder and one count of unlawful possession of a firearm.

McGregor, 25, of Dorchester, and Montgomery, 28, of Medford, were shot early on January 27, 2014 outside 92 Rosewood St. in Mattapan. Police responding to the scene found McGregor lying in the road and Montgomery on the sidewalk, about 15 yards away. Both later died from their injuries at the hospital.

Clarence McGregor

Family members remembered McGregor as an animal lover who also liked working with children. Montgomery had a son and a family friend recalled her  as a sweet woman who was trying to improve her life. Her ex-boyfriend had been killed in Ashmont just hours before Montgomery was shot. Police believed the shootings to be gang-related.

According to the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office, all three suspects have served time in prison for gun-related convictions in 2008 or 2009.

Investigators identified Stephen, Evans and Jones as suspects through ballistics evidence at the scene, witness statements, cell tower records and other evidence gathered over the past two years, according to the DA’s office. The two victims were targeted, according to prosecutors and police.

Stephen and Evans are set to return to court on May 31. Jones’ arraignment date in Boston has yet to be scheduled, as an unrelated gunshot injury he sustained last year may impact his ability to travel, according to the DA’s statement.

By Miharu Sugie

It could be 3 a.m. or 10 p.m. The detective could be at his or her child’s birthday party, enjoying a day off. All of that no longer matters when a homicide detective gets a call. Within minutes, detectives are at the crime scene, working behind the yellow caution tape, keeping their ears to the ground and eyes wide open for any evidence that could lead to a suspect.

Until a few decades ago, it was normal to see homicide detectives at the crime scene writing reports by hand, identifying suspects with blood typing and typing out the reports on a typewriter. Now, typewriters and blood typing are replaced by technologically advanced and efficient tools. DNA testing is a standard method of identification. Even something simple as a video footage has been revolutionary in homicide investigations, according to sergeant detective Paul Donovan of the Boston Police Department’s Homicide Unit.

Being a homicide detective requires interpersonal skills and a high level of integrity, said Donovan, a seasoned Boston Police officer who joined the unit as a supervising sergeant detective from 2005 to 2009. Last year, he rejoined the unit as an administrative sergeant.

Boston Police headquarters

Police departments look for homicide detectives who know court personnel and court procedures and who can interact well with witnesses, the accused, victims, and the district attorney’s office. A high school diploma and professional training have always been the minimum requirement. Recently, however, that has changed.

“The level of technological skill goes well beyond the old days of just speaking to people and taking notes,” said James Alan Fox, a criminology, public policy and law professor at Northeastern University. “Now, this still happens, people take notes, but let me also say that police generally should be educated … and they trend towards more and more departments requiring a minimum of a college degree.”

Read more

Police have arrested a second man in connection with the December murder of D’Andre King-Settles, the 17-year-old shot and killed on Annunciation Road.

The shooting happened around 4 p.m. on Dec. 18, 2015 around a playground near the apartment complex where King-Settles lived with his family. At the time of the incident, a witness described seeing multiple people around King-Settles body after the shooting.

D’Andre King-Settles

In late February, members of the Boston Police fugitive unit, along with members of the Randolph Police Department, arrested 17-year-old Tsunami Ortiz and charged him with murder. At his arraignment, prosecutors alleged that Ortiz, and another suspect who was not named, stalked and killed King-Settles.

Officers arrested that second suspect last Thursday, March 31. Enrique Auch, 18, of Revere, after spotting him in Jamaica Plain. Friday, Auch was arraigned in Roxbury District Court on multiple charges, including murder, armed assault to murder, and multiple firearm-related charges. He was ordered held without bail.

The Suffolk County District Attorney told the Globe he expects to arraign Auch in Suffolk Superior Court on the murder charge.

An outbreak of violence on River Street in Mattapan left one man dead and another injured early Sunday morning.

Police responded to a radio call for a person stabbed at 227 River St. around 2:10 a.m. on March 27. At the scene, in the lobby of an apartment complex, police officers found one man who had been shot multiple times and another man who was stabbed. Police estimate both men to be in their 20s.

Officials pronounced the shooting victim dead at the scene, and the stabbing victim was taken to Carney Hospital in Dorchester, to be treated for his injuries, which were non-life threatening.

Neighbors reported hearing argument at a birthday party in an apartment, on the third floor, which then spilled outside and turned violent according to The Boston Globe. Someone reportedly called police as the people arguing moved outside, but the violence began before officers arrived. A Globe reporter spoke with a woman who found the two men in the lobby shortly after 2 a.m.:

Allysha Pierre, 20, said she encountered a shirtless man at the front of the lobby. He complained about being stabbed in the back and calmly showed Pierre a deep cut, she said.

“I can’t believe I just got stabbed,” the man kept muttering, according to Pierre.

The injured man pointed Pierre to a second victim, who lay face down and motionless on the floor inside a nearby doorway, she said.

The second man was keeled over, Pierre said, though at the time she presumed he was “passed out.”

There was also a knife on the ground, according to Pierre.

Pierre told the Globe she did not recognize either man and did not believe either  was a resident of the building.

Police have not released the victims’ identities, and have not made any arrests in connection to the incident. Anyone with information is asked to call Boston Police homicide detectives at 617-343-4470. People who wish to leave an anonymous tip can call the CrimeStoppers Tip Line at 1-800-494-TIPS, or can text the word ‘TIP’ to CRIME (27463).

Two separate shootings in Boston Tuesday night led to several injuries and one fatality.

Around 10:30 p.m., Boston Police responded to a radio call of a person shot around 7 Wordsworth St. in East Boston. At the scene, officers found a man suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. EMS transported the victim to Mass. General Hospital, according to CBS Boston. The victim was later pronounced dead.

Police have not released the man’s identity, but said he was in his 20s. The motive for the shooting may have been drug-related, according to the Boston Globe.

About an hour later, a shooting in Jamaica Plain on School Street wounded two people, a man and a woman. The woman remains in the hospital in critical condition, according to the Globe.

Police are actively investigating the East Boston homicide and ask anyone with information to call Boston homicide detectives at 617-343-4470. To leave an anonymous tip, call the CrimeStoppers Tip Line at 1-800-494-TIPS, or text the word ‘TIP’ to CRIME (27463).

One person is dead after a shooting early Monday morning in Roxbury on Humboldt Avenue near Munroe Street.

The incident, which one witness told the Boston Herald sounded like a “shootout,” happened around 3:05 a.m.

According to Boston police, when officers arrived on the scene at 66 Humboldt Ave., they found one man who appeared to be in his 20s who had been shot dead. Another victim was nearby suffering from a non-life threatening gunshot wound. That man suffered an injury to his ankle, according to WBUR.

The Boston Globe reports the shooting happened after a resident of a nearby apartment complex returned home around 2:30 a.m. with a group of people, and neighbors reported hearing arguing, which then moved outside.

Police recovered three different firearms at the scene, WBUR reports. One man who lives nearby told the Herald he heard more than 20 gunshots coming from two different weapons.

When the bullets stopped, he got up to his living room and looked out a window and saw a car speed away, headed the wrong way on Munroe Street before turning on Humboldt Avenue, he said. A short time later, he saw cops focusing on a man in the passenger side of a sedan. The man had been fatally shot.

He said the gunplay lasted between 90 seconds and 2 minutes.

Both the Globe and WBUR report the victim was a 28-year-old man but police had not released the victim’s identity.

Another neighbor told the Globe she and her cousin looked out of their window and saw a man in a hooded sweatshirt running away.

No arrests had been made as of Tuesday afternoon, though officers continue to investigate the shooting. Anyone with information regarding the shooting is asked to call Boston Police homicide detectives at 617-343-4470. Anonymous tipsters can call the CrimeStoppers Tip Line at 1-800-494-TIPS or text the word ‘TIP’ to CRIME (27463).

The 16-year-old who is charged with fatally stabbing a 15-year-old on Sunday afternoon in Dorchester was held without bail at his arraignment in Dorchester Municipal Court on Monday.

Amari Pope, of Dorchester, allegedly stabbed Deon Hopkins, also of Dorchester, just after 4:30 p.m. Sunday, near the intersection of Columbia Road and Devon Street.

Hopkins and Pope’s girlfriend were reportedly arguing outside, according to the Boston Globe. Pope allegedly saw the pair arguing, ran into his home nearby and grabbed a knife, then returned outside.

Deon Hopkins

Pope stabbed Hopkins in the heart, according to the Boston Herald. Prosecutors say Hopkins ran across the street and collapsed near El Coli Market. The convenience store’s surveillance footage reportedly shows Pope following Hopkins across the street and circling his body, still holding the knife.

Pope then reportedly fled the scene and changed his clothes.

According to prosecutors, Pope told a family member that he did “something stupid,” and made other statements alluding to his involvement in the stabbing. Pope reportedly also made similar statements to police. Pope and an adult family member were taken to the Boston Police Homicide Unit.

Pope, who has charges of armed assault and armed robbery on his record, according to the Herald, will next appear in court on March 30.

Police arrested a suspect Monday morning in connection with a fatal stabbing in Dorchester Sunday afternoon.

Shortly before 4:40 p.m., officers responded to Columbia Road and Devon Street for a report of a person shot. When they arrived, officers found the victim, a 15-year-old boy, suffering from what appeared to be a gunshot wound, but was later determined to be a stab wound.

The teen, who has not been formally identified, was taken to Boston Medical Center where he later died from his injuries.

Just after 8:15 a.m. Monday, the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office announced an arrest had been made in connection to the stabbing, and that the suspect, a 16-year-old, was set to be arraigned later in the day at Dorchester Municipal Court. The DA’s office was waiting to release the suspect’s name.