BOSTON, May 14, 2018— A man currently serving an unrelated prison sentence has been indicted on charges he critically injured a man by beating him with a rock at a homeless encampment last year, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said today.

JACQUES MERVEILLE, 32, has been indicted by a Suffolk County grand jury on charges of assault and battery causing serious bodily injury and armed robbery in connection with the 2017 assault outside Copley Square. He is currently incarcerated at MCI-Cedar Junction on an unrelated conviction.

State Police, Boston Police, and Boston EMS responded to the area Copley Square on the afternoon of April 27, 2017, where the then 51-year-old victim had been found bleeding profusely from a wound to his head. He was transported to Boston Medical Center with critical injuries that required emergency surgery.

Evidence collected during an investigation led by State Police detectives assigned to Conley’s office indicated that the assailant struck the victim with a rock during an altercation at a homeless encampment located on state property alongside a Turnpike exit ramp near Copley Square. The victim was able to escape the location of the attack and walk in the direction of Copley Square, where he was observed by a security guard who summoned police and medical assistance. Merveille was identified through surveillance camera footage and statements from witnesses and the victim, who – after extensive rehabilitation and recovery – was able to positively identify Merveille as his attacker, prosecutors said. Prosecutors continued the investigation in the grand jury, leading to today’s indictments.

“If the assailant in this case believed no one would investigate an attack on a homeless man, he was badly mistaken,” Conley said. “The victim was vulnerable, but he wasn’t forgotten or ignored. Troopers, detectives, prosecutors, and even civilian witnesses stepped up to see justice done for him. These indictments bring us one step closer to that goal.”

Merveille is currently serving a 3 ½ year sentence as a result of his April 25 conviction in Suffolk Superior Court on a charge of possession with intent to distribute heroin as a subsequent offense. He is scheduled to face trial in Boston Municipal Court later this month on an unrelated case in which he is accused of assaulting a store clerk.

Assistant District Attorney David McGowan led the grand jury proceedings resulting in today’s indictments. An arraignment date has not yet been scheduled.

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