Homicide Watch Boston

By Aren LeBrun

On Wednesday a jury at Suffolk County Superior Court began its second full day of deliberations on the Commonwealth’s charges of two counts of murder against Keon Monteiro, 26, of Quincy.

The prosecution, led by Assistant District Attorney Craig Iannini, claims that on the afternoon of Nov. 28, 2012, the defendant shot and killed Victor Otoadese, 21, and Sean Repetto, 25, on Batchelder and Longmeadow streets in Dorchester. On Thursday, May 16, 2013, members of the Boston Police Fugitive Unit located and arrested Monteiro in Quincy after a warrant was issued out of Roxbury District Court.

Monteiro, represented by attorney John Tardif, pleaded not guilty to the charges in court following his arrest.

According to the testimony of emergency medical technician Nicholas Camacho, both victims died from gunshot wounds to the head. Lieutenant Richard Driscoll of the Boston Police Department testified that he responded to the scene immediately after the shooting took place, finding Otoadese and Repetto lying in the street, unable to move.

“I called for ‘full notifications’,” said Driscoll, citing a term used among police and EMTs to alert the hospital and police department of a victim’s imminent death. “Both people were either dead or near-dead to the point where there was no helping them.”

Both victims were transported to area hospitals, where Otoadese died shortly afterward. A few days later, Repetto succumbed to his injuries as well.

After hearing closing arguments Monday, the jury entered deliberations on the charges of first-degree murder, the mandatory sentence for which is life in prison without the opportunity for parole. A verdict has not yet been determined.

A man who was shot and killed outside a bar near Fenway Park early Thanksgiving morning is believed to have been an unintended target. Three other people were also injured during the shooting.

Jephthe Chery, 29, was shot and killed outside Who’s on First at around 2 a.m. Thursday morning. Chery, a conductor for the MBTA Commuter Rail, would have celebrated his 30th birthday on Friday.

Boston Police Commissioner William Evans told the Boston Globe that Chery was “an innocent” who got caught in crossfire and had nothing to do with the violence.

Evans described the scene as hectic moments after the shooting and said a sergeant had inspected Who’s On First shortly before the shooting began. He said officers were less than a block away.

[Mayor] Walsh said the chaos unfolded after a private party at the bar. Chery had stopped by the bar to see a friend, relatives said Thursday.

Three other men, all in their late 20s, according to Boston Police, were taken to area hospitals to be treated for non-life threatening injuries. Evans told the Globe some of the injured men were known to police, but not Chery.

Dozens of people visited Chery’s parents’ house in Hyde Park where they shared memories of their friend, who immigrated from Haiti to the U.S. and was known as a hard worker who was always smiling.

Jean Chery, Jephthe’s father, told CBS Boston that he lost his best friend.

Police had not arrested a suspect in the shooting as of Sunday night. Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call homicide detectives at 617-343-4470. Anonymous tips can be left by calling the CrimeStoppers Tip Line at 1-800-494-TIPS, or by texting the word ‘TIP’ to CRIME (27463).

Click here to view a video message from Commissioner Evans about how information from the community is vital to solving homicides.

Friends have set up a GoFundMe page to help cover Chery’s funeral costs.

Massachusetts State Police have issued an arrest warrant for Fernando Owens, the father of a Boston homicide victim, for the murder of a 29-year-old New Jersey woman whose body was found burning near train tracks in Bridgewater earlier this month.

According to the Boston Globe, officials say Owens, 43, killed Ashley Bortner “in retaliation” for his son’s death earlier that day.

Owens’ son, 21-year-old Dominic Owens, was shot and killed in Dorchester early on Nov. 2. Police say Fernando Owens was acquainted with Bortner, and he believed she “had a hand in” Dominic’s death, according to a press release from the Plymouth County District Attorney’s office.

Dominic Owens was shot multiple times and killed on Shepton Street in Dorchester at around 12:15 a.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 3. Owens, who Boston Police Commissioner William Evans said was known to police and had a “violent criminal record,” also had a young son and was devoted to taking care of his son and his mother.

Hours after Dominic was killed, Fernando Owens was “visibly agitated, paced around, making calls on his cellphone,” according to the Globe.

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After spending more than seven days deliberating, jurors in the Phillip Carrington murder trial announced  Tuesday afternoon that they were “hopelessly deadlocked,” according to the Suffolk District Attorney’s office, and the judge presiding over the case declared a mistrial. 

Carrington, 50, is accused of killing his girlfriend, 47-year-old Celestine Walker, in May of 2013. Click here to read more about the trial.

Prosecutors fully expect to re-try Carrington for Walker’s murder, according to a spokesman for the Suffolk DA.

Lawyers in the case will next appear in Suffolk County Superior Court for trial assignment on Thursday, Dec. 10.

The victim of a double shooting in Jamaica Plain on Friday evening has been identified.

A suspect opened fire on two people in a parking lot near the corner of Wyman and Centre streets at around 6 p.m. Friday. One victim, 24-year-old Bryan Santos, was pronounced dead at the scene. The other victim was taken to Boston Medical Center to be treated for life-threatening injuries.

Bryan Santos

Santos was from East Boston, according to his obituary. Santos’ Facebook page states that he attended East Boston High School.

A GoFundMe page has been set up to cover wake and funeral costs.

According to that page, which was set up by a relative, Santos “always made everyone around him smile with his silliness.”

Police are still investigating the shooting and have not arrested a suspect. Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call the homicide unit at 617-343-4470. Anonymous tips can be left by calling the CrimeStoppers Tip Line at 1-800-494-TIPS, or by texting the word ‘TIP’ to CRIME (27463).

One person is dead and another remains hospitalized after suffering life-threatening injuries from a shooting in Jamaica Plain on Friday night.

Police were called to the area of 6 Wyman St. at around 6 p.m. Friday evening after receiving reports of gunshots. Upon arrival they found two men in their early 20’s suffering gunshot wounds in a parking lot adjacent to 348 Centre St.

One victim was transported to Boston Medical Center and the other was pronounced dead at the scene, police said. The victims’ identities have not been released.

According to WCVB, the two men were in a parked vehicle in the parking lot when a black Mercedes SUV pulled up alongside it and someone inside opened fire.

Detectives blocked off the area with crime tape, according to the Boston Globe, and removed a black car from the crime scene at around 9:20 p.m.

The shooting happened in an area where there are many businesses and restaurants.

An employee of Pimentel Market said he saw a man run by the store clutching his side after the shooting, and then collapsed before police arrived and began administering aid.

Police have not arrested a suspect. Anyone with information is asked to call the homicide unit at 617-343-4470. Anonymous tips can be left by calling the CrimeStoppers Tip Line at 1-800-494-TIPS, or by texting the word ‘TIP’ to CRIME (27463).

More than half of the 30 homicides in Boston in 2015 (as of 11/19/15) remain unsolved. No one has been charged with the crimes. Police Commissioner William Evans is asking for the public’s help to bring justice to those 18 victims and the hundreds of other victims of unsolved murders in the city.

“No matter how insignificant you might think the information you have, please come forward, because all it might take is that little bit of information to solve a crime that’s gone unsolved for years,” said Evans. “We will guarantee that nobody will know who you are.”

If you have information about an unsolved homicide, contact the Boston Police Department Homicide Unit at (617) 343-4470. If you prefer to remain anonymous, you can call the CrimeStoppers Tip Line at (800) 494-TIPS, or text the word ‘TIP’ to CRIME (27463).

Suffolk County District Attorney Dan Conley is appealing to the public for information about unsolved homicides in Boston.

“Giving families of homicide victims a sense of justice and closure is some of the most important work that we do,” said Conley. “Most of these cases are just one witness away from being closed and solved. Will you be that person for us?”

If you have information about an unsolved homicide, contact the Boston Police Department Homicide Unit at (617) 343-4470. If you prefer to remain anonymous, you can call the CrimeStoppers Tip Line at (800) 494-TIPS, or text the word ‘TIP’ to CRIME (27463).

By Mackenzie Nichols

Jurors were set to continue deliberating Tuesday morning in the murder trial of Phillip Carrington. During closing statements to the jury on Friday morning, both the prosecution and defense revisited witness testimonies to support their arguments either for or against Carrington’s innocence in the murder of 47-year-old Celestine Walker.

On the night of May 11, 2013, Carrington allegedly went home with Walker despite the restraining order she held against him, and that was the last time she was seen alive. At the time, Walker was involved in two physically abusive relationships, said Suffolk Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Hickman during her closing statement on Friday, but the police maintained that Walker’s boyfriend Philip Carrington was the only viable suspect in Walker’s homicide.

“Walker went from one abusive relationship to another, and she brought Carrington into her home despite the restraining order,” Hickman said. “Carrington has motive.”

According to Hickman, whoever killed Walker left her on the floor covered in a white sheet and locked her inside the apartment with their own set of keys. The next day was Mother’s Day, and Walker’s daughter Ashley Lee allegedly tried calling her, but could not reach her.

Later on, Hickman said, Lee received a phone call informing her that her mother was dead, so she and two other siblings went to Carrington’s Columbus Avenue apartment to confront him about the rumor.

According to Lee’s testimony, Carrington said “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, it was an accident.” The children allegedly became violent with Carrington, but they did not tell police about the incident. Walker’s body was discovered a few days later, on May 16, when a neighbor reported an odor coming from her apartment and officials responded to the scene.

Carrington’s defense attorney Martin Murphy urged jurors to rethink some aspects of the witness testimonies during the trial. The woman who allegedly dropped Carrington and Walker off at Walker’s 34 Heath St. apartment on the night of the May 11, 2013 testified that she saw the couple walk into the building, but the door to the apartment is “physically impossible” to see from where the witness’s car was parked.

“Don’t judge a book by its cover,” Murphy said. “You can’t always say the person on the stand is telling the truth.”

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By Meredith Gorman, Mackenzie Nichols, and Alec Cheung

The murder trial of Phillip Carrington, who is accused of strangling and murdering his ex-girlfriend, 47-year-old Celestine Walker, continues as the prosecution presenting evidence from Walker’s apartment and DNA evidence as they make their case against Carrington. 

On Tuesday, senior forensic analyst Barbara Leal told jurors about the results of DNA tests performed on a sample that investigators collected from under Walker’s fingernails, identified as the suspect’s DNA, and a sample of 50-year-old Carrington’s DNA.

Leal then testified about the highly specific scientific and statistical testing she performed on the samples, which revealed that 99.8 percent of African American males could be excluded from the DNA profile. Carrington, however, could not be excluded because his DNA matched the suspect’s DNA on multiple levels of the tests Leal performed.

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