BOSTON, March 14, 2015—A Dorchester man has been indicted and charged with starting the chain of events that led to Dawnn Jaffier’s fatal shooting along a Dorchester parade route last summer, District Attorney Daniel F. Conley and Boston Police Commissioner William B. Evans said.

The Suffolk County Grand Jury yesterday returned indictments charging WESSON COLAS (D.O.B. 5/25/92) of Dorchester with first-degree murder and armed assault with intent to murder for allegedly pulling a gun and raising it at members of a rival group in the area of Blue Hill Avenue and McLellan Street on the morning of Aug. 23. Prosecutors say a member of that second group, KEITH WILLIAMS (D.O.B. 7/13/96), pulled his own gun and fired at Colas, missing him and instead striking two bystanders: Jaffier, who was fatally injured as she stood about a block away, and a surviving victim, who was about three blocks away.

“The death of an innocent victim is a predictable outcome when you pull a gun on armed rivals in the middle of a crowded street,” DA Conley said. “Dawnn Jaffier was that innocent victim, and we intend to hold the people responsible for her death accountable in a Suffolk County courtroom.”

“I’m extremely proud of my detectives,” said Commissioner Evans. “It is their hard work and perseverance on Miss Jaffier’s case that have led to the arrests of these two additional suspects. I’d also like to thank those in the community who stepped forward to assist our officers. The information you provide is invaluable to investigations like this one. We hope that these indictments can bring some peace of mind to the Jaffier family.”

Colas was indicted on a theory of murder adopted by the Supreme Judicial Court’s 1997 decision in Commonwealth v. Felix Santiago, which held that “Where the defendant chooses to engage in a gun battle with another with the intent to kill or do grievous bodily harm and a third party is killed, the defendant may be held liable for the homicide even if it was the defendant’s opponent who fired the fatal shot.”

That theory was used in the Suffolk County murder trials of MANUEL ANDRADE for the 2007 homicide of Chiara Levin in Dorchester and KEVIN LOUIS for the 2008 homicide of Roniel Marc in Hyde Park for their roles in gunfights that killed unintended targets.

Williams was indicted earlier this year for first-degree murder in Jaffier’s slaying, armed assault with intent to murder for injuring the 20-year-old surviving victim during the same volley of shots, and unlawful possession of a firearm.

The Grand Jury also returned an indictment charging JORDAN REED (D.O.B. 9/5/92) of Randolph with being an accessory after the fact to Jaffier’s murder. Reed is accused of acting with Williams to hide the .357 caliber revolver used in the shootings on Drummond Street shortly after the incident.

Boston Police homicide detectives arrested Colas yesterday and Reed earlier today at the Essex County House of Correction. Assistant District Attorney Mark Lee, deputy chief of the DA’s Homicide Unit, led the grand jury investigation into Jaffier’s homicide. Timothy Munzert is the DA’s assigned victim-witness advocate. Colas and Reed are expected to face arraignment Monday in Suffolk Superior Court.

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