Remarks of District Attorney Daniel F. Conley on the Sept. 8, 2002, police-involved shooting of Eveline Barros-Cepeda

Delivered Aug. 27, 2003

“After a thorough and independent review of the facts and circumstances surrounding the Sept. 8, 2002 shooting death of Eveline Barros-Cepeda in Roxbury, this office has determined that criminal charges are not warranted against the officer who fired the fatal shot.

“Ms. Barros-Cepeda was shot once as she rode in the back seat of a car, immediately after that car struck a police officer as the car fled from another police unit that had first attempted to pull it over approximately a mile away.

“A chronology of facts is as follows. At 1:20 a.m. on Sept. 8, 2002, a marked Boston police cruiser attempted to stop a white Ford Taurus that ran a red light on Columbia Road at Hancock Street. The officers activated their lights and siren, but the Taurus refused to stop and continued to flee along several streets before turning onto Dunkeld Street and continuing to drive in the direction of Fayston Street, with the cruiser in pursuit.

“At the same time, another Boston police patrol unit, comprised of Patrolmen Michael Paillant and Thomas Taylor, was conducting an unrelated investigation on Fayston Street, near the intersection with Dunkeld Street. Shortly before 1:30 a.m., Officer Taylor was walking from a house on Fayston with a civilian, while Officer Paillant was standing in the street outside their cruiser.

“After observing the Ford Taurus being pursued toward Fayston Street, Officer Paillant stepped into the intersection of Fayston and Dunkeld, in front of the oncoming car. Using both hand and verbal commands, he ordered the fleeing vehicle to stop. The driver of the Taurus, later identified as BRIMA WURIE, refused to do so. As the car moved into the intersection and began to turn right onto Fayston, the right front of the Taurus struck Officer Paillant and threw him onto the car’s hood. As the vehicle then continued its turn, Officer Paillant rolled off the right side of the car to the ground.

“At this point, Officer Taylor was standing 15-20 feet from the driver’s side of the Taurus. After seeing his partner get hit and roll off the car, Officer Taylor lost sight of his partner behind the Taurus and feared that he was being run over or dragged by the car. In fear for his partner’s safety, and in an attempt to stop the car, Officer Taylor fired five rounds from his service weapon, a .40 caliber Glock. Four rounds entered the car. Both Officer Taylor and the civilian he had been walking with reported seeing only the driver inside the car. Although the officers did not immediately realize this, one of the shots struck Ms. Barros-Cepeda, who was crouching in the backseat alongside two other passengers, in her left upper back and passed through her torso.

“After the car continued to flee along several streets, and after the four surviving occupants jumped out of the still-moving car, the Taurus was stopped by police officers who were able to put it into park. The officers then discovered Ms. Barros-Cepeda slumped in the back seat suffering from the gunshot wound. She was transported by ambulance to Boston Medical Center, where she died from her injury.

“The shooting was comprehensively investigated by the by the Boston Police Department Homicide Unit, and, as is standard policy, subsequently, independently, and extensively reviewed by the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office. That review involved a thorough examination of witness accounts, ballistics, and other physical evidence. As a result of that review, we have determined that Officer Taylor’s decision to fire his weapon was warranted due to the risk of serious bodily injury or death to his partner.

“Earlier today, representatives of this office and the Boston Police Department met with members of Ms. Barros-Cepeda’s family to explain the results of the investigation. Also today, we met with community leaders to explain that decision to them.

“There are several further points I’d like to address. The investigation into the shooting determined that before the driver of the Taurus committed the traffic infraction that caught the attention of the first police unit, the car had stopped near Cushing Avenue in Dorchester. There, a front seat passenger briefly exited the car and fired shots at another group of young men on Cushing Avenue. He then got back into the car, which fled, and moments later ran the red light on Columbus Avenue and began fleeing from the marked police cruiser.

“As a result of the investigation into that attempted shooting and the events that followed, the car’s driver, BRIMA WURIE, was indicted on Dec. 23, 2002 on charges stemming from the assistance he provided to the shooter, his own decision not to stop for police, and the striking of Officer Paillant.

“The front seat passenger believed to have fired the gun on Cushing Avenue has not been charged. At this time, the current state of the evidence against him does not support charges, but charges against him are not ruled out should further evidence arise.

“One of the back seat passengers in the Taurus, who was sitting next to Eveline Barros-Cepeda, was LUIS CARVALHO, who was arrested two weeks ago for allegedly firing a gun in the direction of six police officers on Howard Street. The investigation into that incident is continuing. More information on the status of Wurie and Carvalho cases is in the press release.

“Finally, I wish to note that, as in all cases of police-involved shootings, the Boston Police Department’s Firearm Discharge Investigation Team will determine whether the officers involved in the fatal shooting of Ms. Barros Cepeda violated any departmental rules and regulations. This office’s review, however, found that Officer Paillant, in stepping in front of the fleeing motor vehicle, took an unnecessary risk. That unwarranted action resulted in Officer Paillant being put in a position in which Officer Taylor had to discharge his weapon out of fear for his partner’s safety.

“I will now take questions for a few minutes.”