BOSTON, May 27, 2016—The shooting death of 38-year-old Thomas Hawkins in Mattapan was never forgotten by the police and prosecutors assigned to the case, who labored for more than a decade until they were able to charge two men with his murder, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said today.

ELLIS GOLDEN (D.O.B. 1/26/84) was arraigned today in Dorchester Municipal Court on charges of murder and unlawful possession of a firearm for the 2004 incident that claimed Hawkins’ life on Marden Avenue in Mattapan. At the request of Assistant District Attorney Judith Lyons, Judge Jonathan Tynes ordered him held without bail.

A second defendant, KEVIN GRAHAM (D.O.B. 5/15/80) is also charged with Hawkins’ murder. He is currently in custody on an unrelated charge out of Bristol County and will be arraigned at a later date.

“Some cases can be solved in a few hours,” Conley said. “Others can take many years. But no homicide is ever forgotten by the prosecutors and police detectives who investigate them. Thanks to the diligent work done very early in this investigation and the ongoing grand jury investigation led by Suffolk prosecutors, we’ve made significant progress in bringing some measure of justice to Mr. Hawkins’ family.”

Boston Police responded to a call for shots fired in the area of Theodore Street at about 1:00 am on Aug. 14, 2004, and located Hawkins suffering from gunshot wounds on nearby Marden Avenue. He was transported to Boston Medical Center, where he died of his injuries. His wallet was found the next day in a school yard abutting Hildreth Street, empty of cash.

Lyons told the court of various witness statements that included details on the sound of gunshots, observations of two men – one of them with a gun – running from the area where Hawkins was killed, and the direction in which they ran. Lyons said that witness statements led to the defendants’ identification by name and through photo arrays.

Golden was represented today by attorney Robert Griffin. He will return to court on July 22.

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