State Police homicide detectives assigned to Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley’s office are investigating deaths this morning in Chelsea and Revere.

Members of the Suffolk County State Police Detective Unit and Chelsea Police detectives are investigating the stabbing death of a 16-year-old male at a residence on Grove Street shortly before 1:30 this morning. That teen was rushed to Whidden Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead of his injuries. His identity is not being released at this time.

The investigation into the fatal stabbing is active and ongoing. Anyone with information on the incident is asked to call Chelsea Police detectives at 617-466-4826. more »

A Dorchester man gunned down a fellow gang member because the victim was “a snitch” who led an angry drug dealer’s associates to the defendant’s home after a drug rip-off, a Suffolk County homicide prosecutor said in closing arguments this morning.

Assistant District Attorney Edward Krippendorf said JAMES “GUNNA” WALKER (D.O.B. 9/9/86) shot 20-year-old Antoine “Pun” Perkins dead – and nearly killed Perkins’ friend – on July 22, 2006, because Perkins had arranged for some of his Lucerne Street Doggz associates to purchase two pounds of marijuana from a drug dealer they robbed instead. When the dealer told her boyfriend, prosecutors say, the boyfriend confronted Perkins and Perkins led him and others to Walker’s home.

Walker called Perkins “a snitch, and not just that day,” Krippendorf said. “He didn’t let it go. You heard that in the days and weeks afterwards he continued, he pursued that.” more »

Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley today assigned a senior prosecutor to the ongoing investigation of the use of force by Boston Police during an Oct. 22 arrest at Roxbury Community College.

Conley tapped First Assistant District Attorney Josh Wall to represent the Suffolk DA’s office in the probe. Wall, a Suffolk prosecutor for more than 15 years who oversees all Superior Court prosecutions in Suffolk County, is a widely-respected attorney who oversaw reforms in the use of eyewitness evidence by Boston Police and Suffolk prosecutors.

“It’s important for everyone involved that there be independent eyes reviewing what occurred here,” Conley said. “I spoke with Commissioner Davis, who has already initiated what he promises will be a complete and thorough internal investigation. Commissioner Davis has further pledged ongoing cooperation with my office, including providing us with all of the investigative materials so we can make an impartial determination concerning possible criminal conduct.” more »

A Roxbury man was committed to a state hospital for a mental health evaluation following his arraignment this week for allegedly exposing himself through a window to children in an elementary school gymnasium, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.

TYRONE CURRY (D.O.B. 1/16/79) is charged with open and gross lewdness for the Tuesday morning incident, which took place outside the John Winthrop Elementary School in Dorchester. At his arraignment the same day, Assistant District Attorney April English recommended that he be held on $2500 cash bail and be ordered to stay away from the school; after hearing from the court clinician, Roxbury District Court Judge David Poole ordered Curry committed to Bridgewater State Hospital for a two-week evaluation.

Poole told attorneys that he would set bail at a post-evaluation hearing on Nov. 12. more »

A Suffolk County prosecutor today told Superior Court jurors to “put aside any inclination towards sympathy” for the elderly defendant or and victim of a 2009 stabbing and to “be impartial and follow the evidence where it leads you – no more no less.”

VERNA SEWELL (D.O.B. 12/21/44) is charged with second-degree murder for the May 8, 2009, stabbing of 74-year-old Julius Scott in his Dorchester residence. Evidence suggests that Sewell had been living in Scott’s Talbot Street studio apartment for several months before the stabbing.

“Julius Scott lived almost three-quarters of a century,” Assistant District Attorney Ian Polumbaum said during his opening statement. “Somebody stopped him at 74. Somebody murdered him. Somebody left him in his apartment with a knife in his chest, left him to call 911 on his own, left him to sit in a chair in front of his television to wait for help that came too late.” more »

A member of a notorious Boston street gang who allegedly shot one man to death and seriously wounded another four years ago was issuing a “deadly and permanent lesson that you do not go against fellow Lucerne Street Doggz,” a Suffolk County prosecutor told Superior Court jurors in an opening statement.

The trial of JAMES A. WALKER, a.k.a. “GUNNA” (D.O.B. 9/9/86), of Dorchester began today, with the defendant facing charges of first-degree murder for the homicide of 20-year-old Antoine “Pun” Perkins, armed assault with intent to murder and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon for the non-fatal shooting of Perkins’ friend, then 19, and unlawful possession of a firearm for the July 22, 2006, incident on Morton Street.

Assistant District Attorney Edward Krippendorf told the court that, a month prior to the shooting, Perkins had arranged for some of his Lucerne Street Doggz associates to purchase two pounds of marijuana from a third party. Instead of making a purchase, those friends stole the drugs and left the area, Krippendorf said. more »

The Suffolk County Grand Jury has indicted a South Boston man in connection with the death of 23-year-old Michael DiMaria, whose jugular vein was sliced by flying glass in a nightclub near Fenway Park this summer, District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.

The indictments, returned yesterday, charge MICHAEL GUARDIOLA (D.O.B. 5/8/85) with one count of manslaughter and two counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon for allegedly throwing a glass at another man after they bumped and exchanged words in the crowded Lansdowne Pub on Aug. 14. The glass missed that man, but broke apart and wounded three others who had nothing to do with the confrontation.

DiMaria, 23, a Hicksville, New York resident who was in Boston to visit friends, bled to death after part of the glass struck him in the throat. The two other victims sustained head and shoulder injuries. more »

A Hyde Park man was arraigned this morning on drug trafficking charges after his arrest with almost 2000 painkillers and sedatives for which he had no prescription, including more than 1900 pills hidden inside children’s toys in a box he’d received from Florida, Suffolk County District attorney Daniel F. Conley said today.

GREGORY HORAN (D.O.B. 11/26/79) is charged with trafficking in between 100 and 200 grams of a Class B substance, possession of a Class C substance with intent to distribute, and violating the state’s drug laws in a school zone. Assistant District Attorney Ryan Mingo recommended that Horan be held on $75,000 cash bail; Judge Edward Redd set bail at $3,000, the amount Horan posted following his arrest yesterday.

State Police narcotics detectives assigned to the Suffolk DA’s office were informed yesterday by Federal Express security specialists that a package shipped to the company’s Post Office Square location contained a large amount of prescription pills. Together with Boston Police detectives and U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agents, the troopers viewed the package and its contents, then resealed it. The package was addressed to “Mr. G. Horan” and marked for pick-up by the recipient. It had been sent from Miami the day before. more »

State Police detectives assigned to the Suffolk DA’s office are asking for the public’s help in identifying the body of an adult female found deceased on Carson Beach yesterday morning.

The deceased is a white female estimated to be between 55 and 65 years of age, weighing about 140 lbs and about 5’2” tall. She had brown eyes and short blondish-gray hair. At the time of her death, she was wearing gold half-loop earrings and a gray crewneck sweatshirt. The sweatshirt had the words “Boston You’re My Home” and the insignia of the Patriots, Celtics, Bruins, and Red Sox embroidered across the chest. She was also wearing black pants, black socks, and black shoes.

A jogger discovered the woman’s body at about 7:00 yesterday on the shoreline near the Teacher’s Union Hall and State Police barracks. Her death is being investigated as a non-homicide and detectives are seeking leads in identifying her and contacting her next of kin. more »

The Massachusetts Appeals Court today reversed a district court judge’s decision to suppress a firearm recovered during a motor vehicle stop by Boston Police, citing the officers’ “reasonable concern for safety” when they searched the vehicle in 2008, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.

WILLIAM A. GRAHAM (D.O.B. 1/11/86) of Roxbury and ROBERT KINES (D.O.B. 5/10/88) of Mattapan were arrested on gun and drug charges on July 22, 2008, after Boston Police stopped their vehicle on Perrin Street. Officers patrolling the area after a recent shooting had observed a group of people on a sidewalk shrink back from the defendants’ vehicle as it passed by them slowly and stopped the car for a traffic violation.

Upon conducting the motor vehicle stop, the officers observed in the vehicle a group of young men they knew to be gang members, including a third occupant passenger who had a history of firearms offenses. Kines, who was driving, defied the officers’ orders to keep his hands in sight; when they ordered him from the vehicle they also observed him lock the glove compartment and leave the key on his seat after retrieving his registration. Patfrisks led to the recovery of knives from both defendants and several bags of marijuana from Kines. more »

A Roxbury teen faces a mandatory life sentence today after a Suffolk Superior Court jury convicted him of murdering 15-year-old Soheil Turner on a busy Boston street corner last year, District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.

Less than an hour into its first full day of deliberations, the jury found XENIYEJU CHUKWUEZI (D.O.B. 4/4/91) guilty of first-degree murder and unlawful possession of a firearm for shooting Turner in the back of the head as Turner waited for a bus to school on the morning of May 7, 2009. Though murder one carries a mandatory life term without the possibility of parole, Suffolk Superior Court Judge Linda Giles scheduled a formal sentencing hearing for 2:00 in courtroom 806.

“A 15-year-old boy’s life was snuffed out as he did what thousands of teenagers do every day,” Conley said. “He stood waiting for a bus to school. His life and all his potential ended when a coward walked up and shot him in the head for no good reason at all.” more »

“Soheil Turner was a son, a grandson, a nephew and a friend to many people,” a Suffolk County homicide prosecutor told a Superior Court jury in closing arguments this morning. “Because of the actions of this defendant, he is none of those things anymore.”

Turner’s killer, Assistant District Attorney John Pappas said, was XZENIYEJU CHUKWUEZI (D.O.B. 4/4/91), on trial for first-degree murder and unlawful possession of a firearm for allegedly shooting the 15-year-old high school student to death near the corner of Adams and Dudley streets as the victim waited for a bus to take him to school a year and a half ago.

Unbeknownst to the defendant, the shooting was captured in its entirety on a surveillance camera video. more »

Two Celtics fans who broke into a Mission Hill apartment while drunk this summer were ordered to partake in a substance abuse program and perform community service after a district court judge continued their cases without a finding for a year last week, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.

Suffolk County prosecutors had sought criminal convictions and two years of supervised probation for PATRICK DIAMOND (D.O.B. 11/6/91) of Greenwich, Connecticut, and DANIEL SPILLAINE (D.O.B. 2/27/91) of Marblehead, both charged with breaking and entering at night with intent to commit a felony. Only Spillane was actually present inside the apartment; Diamond, who waited near the fire escape from which Spillane entered the residence, was charged as a joint venturer.

At a hearing Friday in West Roxbury District Court, Assistant District Attorney Christopher Meade also asked that both defendants perform 40 hours of community service, undergo substance abuse evaluation and treatment, remain drug- and alcohol-free, and stay away from the victims. more »

A South Boston man was taken into custody today after a Suffolk Superior Court jury found him guilty of raping a 27-year-old woman on his boat at the Dorchester Yachting Club two years ago, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.

TORREY BROWNE (D.O.B. 10/26/75) was convicted of rape and assault and battery for the Sept. 1, 2008, incident on board Browne’s boat at the Dorchester Yachting Club. Judge Regina Quinlan ordered court officers to take Browne into custody pending sentencing on Nov. 17.

During the week-long trial, Assistant District Attorney Michelle Kalowski of Conley’s Sexual Assault Unit proved that Browne had invited the victim, whom he knew through work, to see the boat he had just bought. The boat was docked at the Dorchester Yachting Club, and the victim met him there on the evening of Oct. 31. more »

The state’s 11 district attorneys today said they welcomed a pledge by Democratic and Republican state auditor candidates to audit their defense counterparts’ skyrocketing budgets and affirmed their own commitments to fiscal transparency.

“We were heartened to learn that both candidates for state auditor would review the financial schemes that led to runaway costs at the Committee for Public Counsel Services,” said Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley. “We’ve always operated under that scrutiny and our finances are an open book. The system currently in place, though, provides a blank check and no oversight to private attorneys billing CPCS and the public for millions of dollars each year above and beyond what they earn in private practice.”

The state’s district attorneys yesterday made public their call to legislators and gubernatorial candidates to address the systemic flaws plaguing Massachusetts’ bar advocate program. Under that program, CPCS – the state agency that provides legal representation to indigent defendants – farms out 90% of its cases to thousands of private attorneys who bill taxpayers by the hour. more »

A former Chelsea resident serving jail time for molesting young relatives now faces potential lifetime commitment at a secure facility under the state’s Sexually Dangerous Person laws, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.

Assistant District Attorney Mindy Klenoff of Conley’s Sexual Assault Unit convinced Suffolk Superior Court Judge Mitchell Kaplan that JUSTO ESTERAZ (D.O.B. 11/10/38) is “likely to engage in further sexual offenses if not confined to a secure facility” and thus sexually dangerous under Massachusetts law. Kaplan’s findings came after four days of testimony from eight witnesses, including three victims and four psychologists. more »

Over the past few weeks, as my fellow District Attorneys and I have begun speaking publicly about the disparity in funding for prosecutors and public defenders in Massachusetts, just about everyone we talk to reacts in the same way: with shock and anger. People get the basic math that my colleagues have just laid out: that we can’t justify spending over $168 million for public defenders to handle 200,000 cases, while we dedicate just $92 million to prosecutors who handle 300,000 cases. These numbers do not reflect the public’s own safety priorities. We need to fix this broken system and restore proper balance.

Let’s be clear, the Committee for Public Counsel Services provides a vital service and an important function. But that should not translate into a blank check for thousands of defense attorneys or an excuse to ignore the fact that our system of providing criminal defense services for indigent defendants is systemically broken. more »

Revere Police and State Police detectives assigned to the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office are investigating the death of a 61-year-old Peabody woman who died in a motor vehicle that veered into the water off Route 107 in Revere this morning.

The woman has been identified as Anna Perkowski. Perkowski was driving a 2007 Lexus southbound at about 7:30 this morning when the vehicle lost its right rear wheel; as she tried to pull into a nearby parking lot, she apparently lost control of the vehicle. The vehicle struck a guardrail and landed in Diamond Creek, also known as Revere Creek. more »

Declaring that “The state’s budget should reflect our public safety priorities,” the state’s 11 District Attorneys tomorrow will announce efforts to enlist the support of policy shapers and the general public to correct a structurally flawed system to provide criminal defense services to indigent defendants. On Thursday, Oct. 14, at 12:30 p.m., the District Attorneys will detail structural flaws in the current system that has resulted in astronomical, runaway costs at the Committee for Public Counsel Services (CPCS). Massachusetts now spends nearly twice as much to defend criminals as it does to prosecute them. At the same time, CPCS’ criminal defense caseload is only two-thirds that of the state’s District Attorneys. more »

A Dorchester man had his bail on an open assault case revoked and was held on an additional half-million dollars’ cash bail following his arraignment in connection with the shooting deaths of a two-year-old boy and three adults on Woolson Street late last month, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said today.

KIMANI WASHINGTON (D.O.B. 10/17/75) was formally charged in Dorchester District Court this morning with two counts of unlawful possession of a firearm and single counts of possession of a Class D substance, trafficking in a Class B substance, and receiving a stolen motor vehicle. Washington was charged as an armed career criminal in light of two prior drug convictions in Suffolk Superior Court and an assault and battery conviction in Dorchester District Court. more »

A Cambridge man’s open bail was revoked and had new bail set at $250,000 cash following his arrest for allegedly stabbing a Boston College student on school property last month.

FRANCISCO “WIZZ” RAMIREZ (D.O.B. 2/22/92) was arraigned this morning in Brighton District Court on a count of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon stemming from the stabbing of a 21-year-old male in the early morning hours of Sept. 25. In addition to setting the high bail, Judge David Donnelly also revoked Ramirez’ open bail on a pending drug charge out of Middlesex County. more »

The person who gunned down 15-year-old Soheil Turner on a busy weekday morning did so “without warning, without hesitation and without provocation,” a Suffolk County homicide prosecutor said during opening statements this morning.

“As Soheil Turner stood outside the Nunez Market armed with nothing but his backpack and the honey bun he was eating at the time,” Assistant District Attorney John Pappas said, “this other person approached him from the bus stop diagonally across the street. After approaching Soheil Turner, this person engaged him in conversation right outside the Nunez Market.” more »

The serial rapist who killed 18-year-old Elsie “Yolanda” Hernandes in a vacant Roxbury lot 26 years ago was found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said today.

A Suffolk Superior Court jury today convicted SULTAN OMAR CHEZULU (D.O.B. 10/2/48), who changed his name from ROBERT LOUIS SCOTT in 1997, of first-degree murder under all three theories: deliberate premeditation, extreme atrocity or cruelty, and felony murder during the commission of an aggravated rape. more »

Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley today joined Middlesex County District Attorney Gerard T. Leone, Cambridge Police Commissioner Robert Haas, and Boston Police detectives at Cambridge Police Headquarters to deliver the following remarks on the arrest of MARCUS A. COLONO (D.O.B. 11/21/77):

“It wasn’t long ago that these two crimes might not have been linked, much less solved and attributed to the same offender. They were two very different attacks with two very different sets of victims in two different jurisdictions. Their most striking commonality was the brutality displayed in each case.

“Two years ago, on Sept. 21, 2008, an unknown offender broke into a residence on Commonwealth Avenue in Brighton and raped two young women inside. The offender left evidence at the scene from which we were able to develop a DNA profile. more »

Suffolk County prosecutors proved yesterday that a Revere man is too dangerous to be released on bail after allegedly kicking and beating his girlfriend severely during a two-hour ordeal in his home last week, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.

Assistant District Attorney Amy Martin presented evidence at a hearing under the state’s so-called “dangerousness statute” in a successful effort to keep ROBERT CURLEY (D.O.B. 3/21/78) behind bars until his trial on charges of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, kidnapping, mayhem, and witness intimidation. Martin elicited testimony from five witnesses, including the victim, a woman in her twenties.

Under Ch. 276, Sect. 58A of the Massachusetts General Laws, a judge may hold a defendant accused of certain violent crimes without bail pending trial upon “clear and convincing evidence that no conditions of release will reasonably assure the safety of any other person or the community.” Following yesterday’s hearing in Chelsea District Court, Judge Jonathan Brant found that there was such evidence and ordered Curley held. more »

A Dorchester man already convicted of sex offenses against children was sentenced to up to five years in prison yesterday following his conviction for enticing a young girl on her way to school, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.

A Suffolk Superior Court jury last week convicted LEE C. BROWN (D.O.B. 7/7/52) of child enticement and annoying or accosting a person of the opposite sex. Yesterday, Judge Raymond Brassard sentenced him to a term of four to five years in state prison to be followed by 10 years of probation upon his release. The enticement charge carries a maximum of five years in prison.

Assistant District Attorney Laura Montgomery of Conley’s Child Protection Unit proved that Brown was a routine fixture at a Dorchester Avenue school bus stop in 2009, when the victim would see him as she went to school. On Sept. 4 of that year, the first day of eighth grade for the girl, Brown handed her a note. more »

A Revere man has been held without bail following his arrest in connection with the shooting death of Kareem Spurill on Revervoir Avenue last week, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.

ALEN STIJAKOVIC (D.O.B. 1/23/91) was arraigned early this afternoon on a single count of murder in connection with Spurill’s shooting death outside a residence on the evening of Sept. 29. At the request of Assistant District Attorney David Fredette, Stijakovic was ordered held without bail.

Fredette said Stijakovic was arrested based on witness statements and additional evidence developed during an investigation by State Police assigned to the Suffolk DA’s office and Revere Police detectives. more »

The murders of a young mother, her tiny son, and two young men on Woolson Street was a crime of unspeakable violence. We’re here today because of that kind of violence will not go unanswered in our city. We’re here because we don’t respond to callous brutality in kind: we respond with careful, methodical, deliberate police work.

I want to acknowledge the outstanding work of Assistant District Attorney Edmond Zabin, Deputy Superintendent Kevin Buckley, Lt. Det. Greg Long, and the Boston Police Homicide Unit.

I should also note in particular the contributions of Sgt. Dets. John Brown, Richard Daley, Paul McLaughlin, and Marc Sullivan, and their squads, particularly Detectives Frank McLaughlin and Paul Donlon. more »

Authorities investigating Tuesday morning’s quadruple homicide on Woolson Street today renewed their call for the public’s assistance as they formally identified the victims.

Boston Police Commissioner Edward Davis and Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said the investigation is very active, but police and prosecutors still need the public’s help. Investigators urge anyone with information, no matter how insignificant or peripheral it may seem, to call the Boston Police Homicide Unit at 617-343-4470.

Authorities also confirmed the identities of the deceased, all of whom suffered fatal gunshot wounds on Woolson Street in Mattapan shortly before 1:15 a.m. on Sept. 28. They are: more »