BOSTON, Oct. 15, 2012—A youth of 14 was ordered held without bail at the Department of Youth Services following his arraignment for the Oct. 6 stabbing death of 39-year-old Cherby LaJoie, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.

ERNEST WATKINS IV (D.O.B. 1/14/98) of Dorchester was arraigned on one count of murder in the adult session of Dorchester District Court today. Under Massachusetts law, juveniles charged with murder are automatically tried as adults, opening Watkins’ name and the proceedings against him to the public.

Assistant District Attorney Mark Hallal, chief of Conley’s Senior Trial Unit, told Judge Kenneth V. Desmond that Boston Police responded to the area of 11 Charles St. in Dorchester just before 1:15 a.m. for a report of a person stabbed. On arrival, they found LaJoie suffering from numerous stab wounds to the head and chest. Emergency medical technicians pronounced him dead at the scene.

Investigators spotted a trail of blood leading away from the scene, Hallal said. They also observed a key on a shoelace in close proximity to the body.

The blood trail led into and through the Fields Corner MBTA station and out toward Geneva Avenue. That indication was corroborated by a witness who recalled seeing a group of young men on top of the victim and assaulting him before fleeing in the direction of the subway station.

Working with MBTA Transit Police, detectives obtained surveillance footage from the station that showed four young men entering the station within seconds of the stabbing, Hallal told the court. The group can be seen heading out of the station, with one of its members returning inside to swipe a Charlie Card on three different fare gates. When the gates don’t open, the youth can be seen jumping over the gate and, later, walking up the platform area before leaving the station through an emergency exit.

Transit Police also assisted in providing Charlie Card records from that time and location. That information led Boston Police detectives to a person who knows the defendant and who gave police his name after viewing still photographs from the surveillance footage.

Unrelated to these developments, a Boston Police officer stopped a car occupied by four young men in another part of the city just after 2:00 a.m. In a report, the officer noted the clothing and description of each occupant. Among them was the defendant, who was wearing clothing consistent with that seen in the MBTA surveillance footage. The officer noted that he appeared nervous and initially refused to give his name. Based on this evidence, homicide detectives executed a search warrant at Watkins’ home on Saturday. In the course of executing that warrant, they tested the key recovered from the scene of the stabbing on Watkins’ door. The key fit. Watkins was placed under arrest.

Jennifer Sears is the DA’s assigned victim-witness advocate on the case. Watkins is represented by attorney Janice Bassil.

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