Boston Mayor Marty Walsh has signed an ordinance banning replica handguns in public spaces throughout the city. Officials believe the measure will save lives since residents and even police officers find it difficult to differentiate a real firearm from a toy gun.
The ordinance, signed Monday, Nov. 9, takes effect immediately and is an attempt to raise awareness of the dangers that replica handguns have on Boston’s youth.
“A lot of these young kids are out there going to school, having these replica guns taken off them,” Boston Police Commissioner William Evans said in an interview with Homicide Watch last week. “We’re not about locking kids up here, it’s more of an educational piece.”
One factor that is important to note is that imitation firearms are not simply used as toys. To date, the Boson Police Department has confiscated more than 150 of these replica firearms in connection with crimes.
“We’re seeing more and more robberies with them.” Evans said. “The whole idea is, for everybody’s safety, to get these guns off the street.”
Mayor Walsh, whose office expresses an adamant devotion to ”providing safe and secure neighborhoods where every resident can thrive,” echoed Commissioner Evans’ sentiments after signing the ordinance on Monday.
“The safety of Boston’s residents and visitors is a top priority, and I am proud to sign this ordinance banning replica handguns in public spaces,” he said. “(This ordinance) will help us in our larger mission of raising community awareness and engagement to remove replica firearms from the hands of our youth.”
Police have arrested the suspect of a fatal shooting that took place in Brighton last month.
On Oct. 22, 30-year-old Desmond Joseph of Allston was shot and killed on Telford Street in Brighton as he helped his baby into a parked car. He died at the scene.
Gammada M. Musa
A few days later, detectives identified Gammada M. Musa, 25, of Brighton, as the suspected shooter. Musa had fled the area and was considered armed and dangerous, police said, and officers appealed to the public for help finding him.
Officials said the CrimeStoppers Unit received multiple anonymous tips that helped them track Musa down. Boston Police officers, as well as members of the US Marshals arrested Musa Friday in New Bedford.
Said Commissioner William Evans: “In addition to thanking my investigators, I want to especially acknowledge and thank the community members who supplied the anonymous tips that ultimately lead to the capture of Gammada Musa. Thanks to the community’s help and belief in the idea that our city can be a safer place when we all work together, a dangerous felon is off the streets and in police custody.”
Musa will be arraigned in Brighton District Court on Monday.
Dominic Owens, 21, of Boston, was shot multiple times just after midnight Tuesday at 15 Shepton St. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Owens’ mother lives near where he was shot, according to the Boston Globe. Owens was the father of a 4-year-old boy.
According to a GoFundMe page set up to support Owens’ mother and the funeral costs:
“His main priorities in life was his young son and mom. He always made sure his mom was taken care of by being there for her as she did for him. They were each other’s confidant and best friend.”
A jury is deliberating in the trial of three people charged with inadvertently killing a motorcyclist in 2013.
Defendants Davan Lee Egleston, Victor Martinez and Cherice Garcia are being jointly tried. On a late night in early March of 2013, the three were allegedly driving an SUV when a man on a motorcycle or moped crashed into the right side of the bumper at an intersection in Dorchester, and later died on scene.
Cherice Garcia, of Dorchester, faces multiple charges, including reckless motor vehicle homicide and unlicensed driving. Egleston, also of Dorchester, is charged with two counts of witness intimidation. Martinez, of Revere, is charged with perjury.
But as court proceedings unfolded, it became unclear as to exactly which of three defendants was in the driver’s seat that night.
Boston Police are investigating the death of a man shot and killed just after midnight Tuesday on Shepton Street in Dorchester.
At around 12:15 a.m. police responded to 15 Shepton St. for a report of shots fired in the area. Officers found a man suffering from multiple gunshot wounds and he was pronounced dead at the scene. Police reportedly recovered eight shell casings from the scene.
The victim was a 21-year-old black man, according to Boston Police Commissioner William Evans. He is known to police and had a violent criminal record, Evans said.
Police are actively investigating the case and ask anyone with information to call detectives at 617-343-4470. People can leave anonymous tips on the CrimeStoppers Tip Line at 1-800-494-TIPS, or texting the word ‘TIP’ to CRIME (27643).
Investigators have identified 25-year-old Gammada M. Musa as the suspect in last week’s Thursday night shooting in Brighton.
The Boston Police Department released a statement on their website Wednesday asking the public to provide any knowledge they may have on Musa’s whereabouts. The Brighton man is around 5’10” and 195 pounds, and is considered armed and dangerous.
Gammada M. Musa, suspect in Desmond Joseph’s death
At 11:45 p.m. last Thursday, police responded to a radio call call reporting a shooting at 124 Telford St. in Brighton. The victim, 30-year-old Desmond Joseph, was helping his 3-month-old baby into a parked car when he was shot and killed at the scene. Joseph’s girlfriend was also in the car, and was heard screaming and yelling while her boyfriend lay in a pool of blood. Bystanders said that the suspect fled the scene through the adjacent Star Market parking lot and ran toward Western Avenue.
According to officer Rachel McGuire who spoke with the Globe, the killing was not random.
Back in 2005, Joseph was charged with armed assault with intent to murder after he shot a man in the neck after a party in Allston. The victim is now a quadriplegic. The case was later dismissed in 2007 when a witness could not be found to testify, the Globe reported.
Those who knew Joseph personally said that he was a peaceful man who had many children and a lot of friends.
Residents of the community are reportedly shocked that this would happen in the normally quiet Brighton neighborhood, and Boston police urge the public to come forward with any information regarding suspect Gammada M. Musa’s whereabouts. Officials have directed community members to the CrimeStoppers Tip Line at 1(800)-494-TIPS or by texting the word “TIP” to CRIME (27463).
The second of two men accused in the 2012 robbery and killing of a man from Hyde Park has been sentenced to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to manslaughter.
On Dec. 15, 2012, Jose Carrasqiullo, 44, robbed 42-year-old Orlando Guerrero, who was then shot and killed by Luis Diaz, 31. Diaz has been sentenced to 15-17 years in prison.
Orlando Guerrero
Police arrested the two men after receiving a tip. Carrasquillo reportedly admitted to police that he and Diaz planned to rob Guerrero, but that he was not aware Diaz was planning to killing him afterward.
What was originally a charge of first-degree murder, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prion, was reduced to manslaughter after a plea bargain was decided upon between the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and Carrasquillo’s legal team.
The prosecution stated that Carrasquillo was cooperative in the case against Diaz, which aided in his receiving a lighter sentence.
While legal justice for Guerrero has been served, his family members spoke in court about how their hurt does not end here. Genesis Hernandez, Guerrero’s niece, spoke in court about how she often worries for the emotional state of her uncle’s children, the oldest of whom are 12-year-old twin girls.
“They know about life.” She said. “They know what happened to their father.”
A Hyde Park woman has been charged with murder after shooting her uncle Saturday afternoon. He died at the hospital.
Although police had not officially identified the victim as of Sunday, the Boston Globe identified him as Clive Francis, 49, of Mattapan. He had three children.
The incident happened at around 12:40 p.m., at 239 Wood Ave. in Hyde Park. Police found Francis suffering from life-threatening injuries, and rushed him to Brigham & Women’s hospital, where he later died.
Police identified 36-year-old Yvonne Lewis of Hyde Park as the suspect. Lewis worked for the Boston Police Department as a switchboard operator for nearly a decade, according to FOX 25. Lewis was the subject of 10 internal affairs complaints while working for the department, the Globe reports.
Lewis fled the scene, and police issued a community alert. According to Boston Police:
In an effort to enlist the public’s help in the department’s efforts to locate the vehicle, investigators issued several community alerts via the BPD’s official twitter account asking for any information relative to the vehicle and its whereabouts.
Approximately five hours after the original call, members of the Boston Police Department’s Homicide and Special Investigation Units with help from the Peabody Police Department were able to locate and apprehend the suspect in Peabody.
Police arrested Lewis and charged her with murder. She will appear in West Roxbury District Court on Monday.
Law enforcement officials have not given a motive for the shooting, but Boston Police Commissioner William Evans called the shooting “domestic violence.”
Boston Police are investigating the murder of a man in Brighton late Thursday night.
Police responded to a call at around 11.45 p.m. for a person shot at 124 Telford St. in Brighton. The street connects Western Avenue and busy Soldiers Field Road.
Officers found the victim outside 124 Telford St. suffering from a gunshot wound, and officials pronounced him dead at the scene. A family member identified the victim to the Boston Globe as 30-year-old Desmond Joseph. Police have not officially identified him.
Boston Police Superintendent Bernie O’Rourke told the Globe that witnesses reported seeing the shooter run through the Star Market parking lot, which is adjacent to the crime scene.
Police have not identified the suspect and are actively investigating the incident. Anyone with information is asked to call BPD homicide detectives at 617-343-4470. Anonymous tipsters can call the CrimeStoppers Tip Line at 1-800-494-TIPS, or text ‘TIP’ to ‘CRIME’ (27463).
A 16-year-old suspect has been charged with murder and held without bail in connection Thursday’s fatal stabbing of a 17-year-old from Hyde Park.
The incident happened at around 3:20 p.m. Thursday near the Jackson Square T stop around 245 Centre St. in Jamaica Plain.
Mason Raymond
According to prosecutors, the suspect, Ronaldo Cepeda of Dorchester, and the victim, Mason Raymond of Hyde Park, encountered each other inside the train station, exchanged words and then got in a fistfight.
According to the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office:
They separated for a moment, during which Cepeda allegedly produced a knife but held it behind him so Mason could not see it. When they engaged again, Cepeda stabbed Mason.
Raymond suffered a single stab wound, which pierced his heart. First responders rushed him to Brigham and Women’s Hospital, but he died from his injuries at around 4:30 a.m. Friday.
At around 2 a.m. Friday, BPD and MBTA Transit Police identified and arrested a 16-year-old Dorchester boy in connection with the stabbing.
Cepeda is being charged as an adult, in accordance with Massachusetts law, which mandates that all murder suspects aged 14 and older be charged as adults. He will appear in court again on Nov. 16.
Homicide Watch Boston is a community-oriented news site that aims to provide clear information about homicides and the tools necessary to record, report and share our experiences and losses within the City of Boston. Read more…
