The shooting death of 27-year-old Paul Fagan last year was the result of an “ongoing feud” between warring gangs, a Suffolk County homicide prosecutor said today.

KARL PRESCOTT (D.O.B. 1/18/83) and YONAS TEWOLDE (D.O.B. 7/5/82), both of Roxbury, were arraigned in Suffolk Superior Court this morning on charges of first-degree murder, unlawful possession of a firearm, and unlawfully carrying a loaded firearm for their alleged roles in Fagan’s May 2, 2010 homicide.

Superior Court Clerk Magistrate Connie Wong ordered the two men held without bail pending trial.

Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Hickman of District Attorney Daniel F. Conley’s Homicide Unit told Wong that Fagan, who was associated with Dennis Street gang members, was walking towards his home on Stafford Street at about 8:00 p.m. when the defendants drove up to the corner in a gold-colored Cadillac, got out of the car, and began shooting in his direction.

Fagan was struck multiple times and collapsed, Hickman said, and “the two shooters returned to the Cadillac, which sped off down Dennis Street.”

A witness was able to provide Boston Police officers with a partial license plate number for the vehicle, Hickman told the court.

Within a few minutes of the shooting, she said, the gold-colored Cadillac struck an individual as it fled the scene; that individual was able to provide police with the full plate number of the Cadillac, which was later identified as the same vehicle used by the defendants in Fagan’s murder, Hickman said.

On May 3, the Cadillac was discovered on Langford Park, which Hickman described as a dead-end street off Copeland Street.

“Witnesses observed several individuals in and around the Cadillac,” Hickman said. “Two individuals were wearing gloves and cleaning the interior and exterior of the vehicle with Armor All wipes.”
Four of those individuals were questioned by Boston Police detectives and subsequently denied any knowledge of the vehicle, Hickman told the court.

During the course of a Suffolk Grand Jury investigation, Hickman said, “Mr. Tewolde testified in the grand jury, admitting that he borrowed the Cadillac during the last week of April and was in possession of the vehicle during the relevant time frame,” but he denied any knowledge of the Stafford Street murder, the prosecutor said.

During the course of the investigation, investigators received information that Prescott may also have been involved in Fagan’s murder, Hickman told the court. He likewise testified before the Grand Jury and denied any knowledge of the May 2 incident.

Hickman said it was during the course of a year-long grand jury investigation that members of the Suffolk DA’s and Boston Police Department’s homicide units learned of the two defendants’ ties to the Copeland Street gang and that group’s feud with Dennis Street.

In addition to that evidence, investigators also obtained cell phone tower records that placed the defendants within 400 yards of where Fagan was murdered before and after the fatal shooting, Hickman said, noting that “both defendants have made admissions” to witnesses that they were involved in the murder.

Arrest warrants for Prescott and Tewolde were issued on March 30 of this year. Prescott was arrested in Virginia on May 16; Tewolde was arrested in Washington, D.C., on June 17.

Michael Schultz is the victim witness advocate assigned to the case. Prescott is represented by attorney Elda James and Tewolde is represented by attorney Matthew Kamholtz. Both are expected to return to court on August 30.