A Dorchester man was held without bail after being formally charged with the slaying of George “Jeffrey” Thompson earlier this month, facing a murder arraignment on what would have been the victim’s 29th birthday, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said today.

OMAY TAVARES (D.O.B. 4/24/89) is charged with murder and unlawful possession of a firearm for his alleged role in the Jan. 7 fatal shooting of George Thompson inside of the victim’s Rosseter Street apartment. Dorchester District Court Judge Rosalind Miller ordered Tavares, who is on probation after serving 18 months in jail for a firearm conviction, held without bail.

Assistant District Attorney Ian Polumbaum told the court that the two men knew one another and that Tavares called Thompson several times on the day Thompson was killed. Tavares then allegedly went to Thompson’s home, where the two became engaged in a conversation that turned into an argument. Tavares allegedly produced a handgun and shot the victim multiple times before fleeing the scene.

Boston Police homicide detectives obtained phone records indicating that Tavares had used a cell phone in the area of Rosseter Street shortly before the shooting and later near his Idaho Street home.

Those records, together with additional evidence obtained during the investigation, led Boston Police to seek a warrant for his arrest. Suffolk prosecutors approved the arrest warrant on Friday; police arrested him at home later that day. During the execution of a search warrant on his residence, Polumbaum told the court, detectives recovered marijuana and ammunition from the defendant’s apartment.

Tavares allegedly offered investigators an alibi for his whereabouts at the time of the shooting, which was shown to be inconsistent with other evidence, Polumbaum said.

Catherine Yuan is the victim-witness advocate assigned to the case. Tavares was represented by attorney James J. Coviello. He is expected to return to court on February 25.