BOSTON, Sept. 5, 2013—A Dorchester man already held on high bail in an open gun case and held without bail for allegedly violating probation on an earlier conviction was arraigned on a slew of charges yesterday after being identified as the assailant who opened fire on a group of people after being asked to leave a party, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.

JOHN LEWIS (D.O.B. 11/7/92) was arraigned yesterday in Roxbury District Court on 16 counts of assault with a dangerous weapon and one count each of unlawful possession of a firearm, unlawful possession of ammunition, carrying a loaded firearm, and discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a building.  Assistant District Attorney Thomas Costello requested bail be set at $150,000.  Judge David B. Poole set bail at $100,000 and, if that amount is posted, ordered Lewis to wear a GPS monitor, abide by a curfew, stay away and have no contact with victims or witnesses, and to stay away from the area of Roxbury in which the incident occurred. 

Lewis has been in custody since his Aug. 16 arraignment in Dorchester District Court on unrelated charges of unlawful possession of a firearm, unlawful possession of ammunition, resisting arrest, carrying a loaded firearm, and unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle. He was held on $100,000 cash bail in that case and held without bail for allegedly violating the terms of his probation on a 2012 conviction for assault and battery on a public employee for which he also served a year behind bars.

Lewis is now charged with an incident in which Boston Police were called to a crowded birthday party on Annunciation Road on July 27 after two shots were fired through the apartment’s door, shattering a window but not injuring anyone.

“There were more than a dozen people inside that apartment,” Conley said. “Three of them were young children. It’s a miracle no one was hit.”

The victims told police that they were holding a birthday celebration with family and friends when two uninvited males arrived.  The men became involved in a verbal argument when they were asked to leave and one man, later identified as Lewis, pointed a gun at the head of one victim outside the apartment, prosecutors said.

Two hours later, at approximately 3:00 a.m., partygoers standing outside the building saw the two men return and ran inside, according to witness statements corroborated by surveillance images.  The men then followed the victims to the apartment and banged on the door with the gun before firing two shots through the door, prosecutors said.

Based on witness statements and descriptions, the retrieval of surveillance footage from the area, and the observations of Boston Police assigned to the Youth Violence Strike Force who had interacted with the defendant in the past, detectives were able to identify Lewis as a suspect and obtain complaints charging him with the Annunciation Way incident.

“This was solid detective work by experienced investigators,” Conley said.

Lewis was represented by attorney Kernahan Buck.  He will return to Roxbury District Court on October 1.

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