BOSTON, March 17, 2014—An alleged armed career criminal and his girlfriend were arraigned on firearm and other charges last week after Boston Police showed up with a warrant for the man’s arrest and discovered a gun and drugs in a diaper bag the woman was carrying, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley.

JEAN TOUSSAINT (D.O.B. 5/5/90) and JESSICA BUTLER (D.O.B. 8/29/89), both of Dorchester, were arraigned Thursday in Dorchester Municipal Court. 

Toussaint was arraigned on charges of unlawful possession of a firearm, unlawful possession of ammunition, carrying a loaded firearm, discharging a firearm with 500 feet of a dwelling, assault by means of a dangerous weapon, and assault and battery.  He was additionally charged as a Level 2 armed career criminal based on a 2010 conviction in Suffolk Superior Court for cocaine trafficking and a 2008 conviction in Roxbury District Court for possession with intent to distribute a class B drug.  Assistant District Attorney Amanda Cascione requested that bail be set for Toussaint in the amount of $100,000 and that he be ordered to wear a GPS monitor, remain under house arrest, and stay away and have no contact with any victims or witnesses in connection with the case.  Cascione also requested that Toussaint’s open bail be revoked in a Dorchester District Court case in which he is charged with assault and battery and threatening.  Judge Rosalind Miller set bail in the amount of $100,000 and granted the motion to revoke Toussaint’s open bail.

Butler was arraigned on charges of unlawful possession of a firearm and possession with intent to distribute a class B drug.  At Cascione’s request, Miller set bail in the amount of $10,000.

According to prosecutors, Boston Police officers responded to an address on Fuller Street shortly before 2:00 a.m. Wednesday after the city’s ShotSpotter system was activated by multiple gunshots.  Upon arrival, officers discovered six spent .380 shell casings in the area.  Nearby, they encountered a man with a fat lip who appeared to be sweating and out of breath.  The man told officers that he had arrived in the area to purchase marijuana from a man; however when he arrived in a nearby alley for the deal, the man grabbed him and put a gun to his neck.  The victim heard the gun click twice, but it did not discharge either time.  The victim was able to escape after a brief struggle and ran from the alley as his assailant fired approximately six times, prosecutors said.

Toissant was identified as a suspect by Boston Police detectives during the hours that followed. Investigators obtained a warrant for his arrest and arrived at his home shortly before 7:00 p.m. that day.  Officers rang the doorbell to Toussaint’s apartment for several minutes and knocked on doors and windows without response.  An elderly woman appeared at the apartment’s rear door and was asked by police to speak with them at the front door.  At that time Toussaint and Butler appeared at the front door, prosecutors said.  Butler was carrying the couple’s child in an infant car seat and had a diaper bag over her shoulder.

Butler rushed to a Chevy Malibu parked in the building’s driveway, where she secured the infant seat in the car and placed the diaper bag in the rear seat, prosecutors said.  She then quickly turned on the car and placed it in gear.

As officers spoke to Butler, she appeared nervous and repeatedly looked at the bag in the car’s backseat.  Based on her demeanor and the amount of time she and Toussaint took to respond to the front door, officers suspected Butler was attempting to remove evidence from the apartment, prosecutors said.

Butler allegedly made statements to police admitting that she knew Toussaint had placed drugs and other items inside the diaper bag, prosecutors said.  Inside the diaper bag, officers discovered a blue cloth bag containing a semi-automatic firearm, a scale, a box of sandwich baggies, and a bag containing a beige rock-like substance believed to be crack cocaine, prosecutors said.

Butler and Toussaint were placed under arrest.

Butler is represented by Kate McIntyre-Sullivan and Toussaint by Peter Marano.  Butler will appear in Suffolk County Gun Court April 9.  Toussaint will appear in that court on April 24.

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