Camera Footage Aids in July 4 Homicide Investigation

BOSTON, July 10, 2018— A Mattapan man was arraigned this morning following his arrest for the July 4 shooting death of 36-year-old Deondra Lee, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.

MICHAEL CARLETON, 32, was arraigned today in Roxbury Municipal Court on a charge of murder. At the request of Assistant District Attorney Masai King, Judge Lisa A. Grant ordered Carleton held without bail.

King told the court that Lee was among a group of individuals gathered near the intersection of Dacia and Brookford streets shortly before 10:00 p.m. on July 4 when the passenger of a vehicle allegedly driven by Carleton opened fire on the group. The shooting was captured by a public safety camera. The video shows the vehicle circle the block prior to the shooting and slow as the passenger opens fire.

“Public safety camera footage was absolutely critical in building this case,” Conley said. “It helped investigators identify the car and, we allege, the person driving it. Because drive-by shootings leave so little in the way of physical evidence, cameras like these are powerful tools that can make the difference between solved and unsolved shootings.”

Lee was struck by the gunfire and transported to Boston Medical Center, where he died of his injuries.

A short time later, Boston Police officers located a vehicle matching the description of the one used in the shooting abandoned in a Dudley Street parking lot. The vehicle was registered to a person associated with Carleton, and Boston Police criminalists matched fingerprints on the driver’s side door and gear shift to those of Carleton.

Security camera footage from before, during, and after the shooting corroborated the print identifying Carleton as the driver, King told the court. Based on that evidence, Boston Police took Carleton into custody this morning.

“The investigation into Deondra Lee’s homicide remains very active,” Conley said. “We ask anyone with additional information, no matter how minor it may seem, to share it with investigators at 617-343-4470.”

Anite Cetoute is the DA’s assigned victim witness advocate. Carleton was represented by Robert Sheketoff and returns to court Aug. 9.

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All defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.