Homicide Watch Boston

Just before his first-degree murder trial was set to begin, a Jamaica Plain man pleaded guilty last week to voluntary manslaughter in the June, 2014 death of a teenager.

Johnnie Bonnie, 23, of Jamaica Plain, was sentenced to 20 years in prison. Bonnie shot 17-year-old Dorchester resident Evans Archer execution-style on

Evens Archer

June 29, 2014. The two were at the same party on Castle Court in the South End. Archer died approximately three weeks after the shooting.

According to the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office:

Bonnie fired a .22 caliber semiautomatic handgun, hitting Archer once in the head, at about 1:50 am before running away down East Berkeley Street and onto Shawmut Avenue.

Video evidence from a nearby camera did not capture the shooting or reveal the gunman’s identity, but it did show the assailant fleeing the scene and crouching near a sewer grate. When investigators searched the drain below, they recovered a firearm that was a ballistic match to the projectile that killed Archer.

The investigation continued for several months, culminating in Bonnie’s Nov. 14, 2014, indictment by the Suffolk County Grand Jury. By that time, Boston Police had arrested him on a new gun charge for which he was sentenced to a term of five to seven years.

Archer attended East Boston High School and was a “gifted basketball player,” according to the Boston Globe.

He was popular, funny, with a talent for science and social studies. Maybe, he told his family, he would go to Morehouse College, in Atlanta.

Archer’s brother told the Globe that Evens was popular and loved working summer jobs to make his mown money and support himself.

“He liked to relax and have fun and enjoy himself,” Devens Archer told the Globe. “He also loved life, he loved to live it to the fullest.”

Archer told the Globe his brother did not know Bonnie, and that their first encounter was at the party.

By Emily Hopkins

The mother of Bella Bond, the girl who captivated the nation last summer as the unidentified toddler “Baby Doe,” has pleaded not guilty in connection to additional charges connected to her daughter’s death.

Rachelle D. Bond

At her arraignment in Suffolk County Superior Court on Wednesday, a judge ordered Rachelle Bond, 40, held on $1 million bail on charges of being an accessory after the fact to Bella Bond’s murder. A grand jury also indicted Bond on charges of larceny for allegedly continuing to accept public assistance benefits intended for Bella after her death, an amount that Assistant District Attorney David Deakin says came to about $1,400.

Deakin spared no details as he read the charges against Bond, describing everything from the class of the construction grade garbage bag that Bond’s codefendant Michael McCarthy allegedly used to store the child’s body, to the military-style duffel bag that was used to transport Bella to a remote area of South Boston, where he allegedly disposed of her body over a sea wall.

Deakin also said that the state would pursue charges based on Bond’s activity during the months following the girl’s death. He said that Bond had told police that she was held against her free will by McCarthy, who she said threatened her life should she go to the authorities. Deakin contended that text messages between Bond and McCarthy during this time suggested that they maintained a “domestic if not intimate relationship,” and that Bond was seen at a McCarthy family reunion in New Hampshire acting normally.

Bond’s attorney, Janice Bassil, took issue with the DA’s detail account, saying that it “poisoned” any potential for a fair trial. She also noted that while Bond may not have been physically restrained during the months following Bella’s death, that there are ways of “emotional and psychological control” that could be at play.

In court Wednesday, Bond wore a sweatshirt and kept her hair in front of her face during the arraignment.

Bella Bond

Bella Bond’s body was found on Deer Island in Winthrop by a woman walking her dog on June 25, 2015. Though a photo reconstruction of the girl was broadcast nationally, she was only identified until September 18. She was two years old at the time of her death.

Deakin said that Bond told detectives that McCarthy had killed Bella late one night when the child refused to go to bed. Bond allegedly walked into the child’s bedroom to find McCarthy standing over her, waving his arms rapidly in the area of her stomach. She alleges that McCarthy then forbade her from contacting authorities.

McCarthy is expected to appear in court on Jan. 11. He is charged with the murder of Bella Bond.

The teenager who died after a fatal shooting in Mattapan on Tuesday morning has been identified.

Joshua Morales

Joshua Morales, 18, of Boston, was killed in a drive-by shooting Tuesday on Wilmore Street around 8:45 a.m. His friend, a 19-year-old, was also injured in the shooting, according to the Boston Globe. The two lived in a group home under the supervision of the Department of Youth Services.

A friend of Morales’ described him as a “good, fun kid.”

The injured victim is working on recovery, his grandfather told the Globe.

The grandfather said police have been to the home to interview his grandson, but the family has yet to figure out the details of the shooting.

Police are searching for a black Acura seen speeding away from the shooting, and investigators are asking for the public’s help.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Boston Police Department’s homicide detectives at (617) 343-4470. Anonymous tips can be made by calling the CrimeStoppers Tip Line at 1-800-494-TIPS, or by texting the word TIP to CRIME (27463).

One person has died after a double shooting Tuesday morning in Mattapan.

The shooting happened around 8:45 a.m. near 23 Wilmore St. in Mattapan. The victims were both males in their late teens. Police transported both to the hospital, where one later succumbed to his injuries and died. The other has been treated for non-life threatening injuries.
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A teenager who was shot and killed Friday afternoon in a playground near the Boston Police Department headquarters has been identified.

D’Andre King-Settles, 17, was shot and killed in Mission Hill around 4 p.m. Friday. King-Settles was shot near 60 Annunciation Rd., in the playground next to the apartment complex where he lived, according to the Boston Globe.

King-Settles was pronounced dead at the scene.

One witness described hearing gunshots, then seeing three shooters fleeing, then returning toward King-Settles, and shooting more.

The witness told the Boston Globe:

He was in his apartment when he heard four or five shots. When he looked out his window, he said, King-Settles was just out of view, but he could see three shooters. Two of them were still close to King-Settles, he said, and the third was further away, maybe 50 yards. For a split second, they were all running away.

Then, he said, the two closer shooters turned back toward King-Settles; when the third saw them turn, he turned too. The two closer shooters fired another
four or five shots, said the man. The third shooter appeared to recognize that King-Settles was dead, said the man, and ran away. The other two also fled. The man could see King-Settles’s feet after he fell to the ground, he said.

Friends described King-Settles as sweet and goofy, who loved to ride his bicycle and would often offer to help neighbors. He had talked about going to Bunker Hill Community College, or joining the Army Reserves, the Globe reported.

In 2011, King-Settles’ older brother, Richard T. King Jr., was stabbed to death in July 2011. No arrest has been made in connection with that murder.

Police continue to investigate King-Settles’ murder and have not made an arrest. Anyone with information is asked to
call the Boston Police Department’s homicide detectives at (617) 343-4470.

Anonymous tips can be made by calling the CrimeStoppers Tip Line at 1-800-494-TIPS, or by texting the word TIP to CRIME (27463).

By Aren LeBrun

Public records from the Boston Police Department reveal there are more than 900 unsolved murders in three city neighborhoods: Roxbury, Dorchester, and Mattapan.

The widow of one victim whose murder remain unsolved, Mary Franklin, has started the Women Survivors of Homicide Movement to raise awareness.

“When a family’s murder isn’t solved, there is this extra sadness because you know that there’s somebody walking around the street who killed your loved one,” said Franklin. “It’s just this horrific, torturing pain that you have to deal with every single day of your life.”

By Elijah Kaplan and Aneri Pattani

After a night of gun violence left three people dead in August 2015, the Boston Police Department began a series of Peace Walks through city neighborhoods. Officers gathered with clergy and community leaders on dozens of nights to walk the streets of Boston.

“I think it’s important because it shows the community that we are out here, we care very much about what goes on in the neighborhood,” said Commissioner William Evans. “It’s a good way for us to get out, meet the community, earn their respect, earn their trust and get to know their concerns.”

The commissioner believes the peace walks have been successful in combating violent crime and plans to continue them in 2016.

Click here to view a message from Commissioner Evans on how you can help with unsolved homicides.

Police have identified the man killed last Wednesday night on Southern Ave. in Dorchester.

Eric Durham, whose friends called him Weez, was shot shortly before 8:30 p.m. Wednesday outside 120 Southern Ave. He was pronounced dead at the scene. 

Durham, 27, of Fall River, lived in Dorchester until moving roughly two years ago, a friend told The Boston Globe. The friend said Durham had a food delivery business called Eric’s Deliveries, and he also worked in construction.

Police have not arrested a suspect. Anyone with information is asked to call the Boston Police Department’s homicide detectives at (617) 343-4470.

Anonymous tips can be made by calling the CrimeStoppers Tip Line at 1-800-494-TIPS, or by texting the word TIP to CRIME (27463).

A man was shot and killed Wednesday night in Dorchester, less than 24 hours after a homicide in the South End.

Just after 8:20 p.m, police responded to 120 Southern Ave., where they found a man in his mid-20s suffering from a gunshot wound. He was pronounced dead at the scene. The victim has not been identified.

Police are investigating and no arrests have been made. Anyone with information is asked to call the Boston Police Department’s homicide detectives at (617) 343-4470.

Anonymous tips can be made by calling the CrimeStoppers Tip Line at 1-800-494-TIPS, or by texting the word TIP to CRIME (27463).

Police have identified the victim of a fatal shooting in the South End early Wednesday.

Wellington Ruiz, 25, of Dorchester, was shot multiple times near 17B Aguadilla St. around 1:30 a.m. Wednesday, Dec. 9. He was rushed to Boston Medical Center where he was pronounced dead.

Police have not arrested a suspect and continue to investigate the case.

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call the Boston Police Department’s homicide unit at 617-343-4470.

People can leave anonymous tips by calling the CrimeStoppers Tip Line at 1-800-494-TIPS, or by texting the word ‘TIPS’ to CRIME (27463).