Quarter-Million Bail for Two Teens Charged with Bromley Heath Shooting

BOSTON, Jan. 28, 2014—Two teenagers, one a 15-year-old from Dorchester and one a 17-year-old from Roxbury, were held on high bail today for allegedly opening fire on a third youth, age 18, at the Bromley Heath housing development yesterday, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.

Assistant District Attorney Adam Foss of the DA’s Juvenile Unit arraigned the two defendants in the Boston Juvenile Court. Both are charged with delinquency, to wit armed assault with intent to murder and discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a dwelling; the younger of the two, who was arrested with a handgun, was additionally charged with unlawful possession of a firearm.

Foss recommended that the defendants be held on $250,000 cash bail each and that the 15-year-old’s bail on open cases charging trespassing and assault and battery be revoked. Boston Juvenile Court Judge Paul Lewis granted those requests.

“Anyone with information on this incident or any act of violence on Boston’s streets should contact Boston Police,” Conley said. “Ending this cycle of retaliation is a priority for every local law enforcement agency, and we’re asking for the public’s help.”

Boston Police responded at about 4:15 yesterday afternoon to a call for multiple shots fired and a person shot in the area of Horan Way. As some officers located the victim inside a nearby apartment, others received a description of the assailants. They were described as two males, one wearing a yellow sweater and the other wearing a blue hooded sweatshirt.

Officers soon spotted the 15-year-old, who matched one of the descriptions. Officers detained him, frisked him, and recovered a Lorcin .380 caliber semiautomatic handgun from his right pants pocket. When asked for his license to carry the firearm, he allegedly stated, “You know I don’t have one.”

Additional officers were directed by a civilian witness to a trash can into which a fleeing suspect had thrown a yellow sweatshirt. Moments later, another group of officers spotted three teens running up Parker Street toward Tremont Street. One of them, the 17-year-old suspect, was identified as having taken part in the shooting.

The victim, who stated that he did not see who shot him, was transported to Brigham and Women’s Hospital for a non-fatal injury to his upper left chest. During a canvas of the area, Boston Police observed ballistics evidence and apparent gunshot damage to multiple vehicles at the scene.

The 15-year-old was represented by the Youth Advocacy Division of the Committee for Public Counsel Services. The 17-year-old was represented by attorney Timothy O’Connell. They will both return to court on Feb. 11.

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