One to Be Arraigned Today, One Already in Custody

BOSTON, July 3, 2014—Boston Police Commissioner William B. Evans and Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley today announced murder charges against two suspects in the unrelated homicides of Orlando Guerrero in 2012 and Brianna Bigby in 2013.

As a result of continued efforts by Boston Police and Suffolk prosecutors, the Suffolk County Grand Jury on Tuesday returned indictments charging LUIS DIAZ (D.O.B. 8/9/84) of Dorchester with first-degree murder, armed robbery, and unlawful possession of a firearm in connection with Guerrero’s Dec. 15, 2012, homicide. A warrant for his arrest issued after the indictments and members of the Boston Police Fugitive Unit apprehended Diaz yesterday; he is expected to be arraigned this morning in Suffolk Superior Court.

Also Tuesday, amid an ongoing investigation, police and prosecutors obtained a Roxbury Municipal Court complaint charging ANTHONY HOWARD (D.O.B. 10/5/86) with murder in connection with Bigby’s June 1, 2013, homicide; aggravated assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, and armed assault with intent to murder for the non-fatal shooting of a 23-year-old man during the same incident; two counts of armed assault with intent to murder for allegedly shooting two other men earlier that same day; and unlawful possession of a firearm as a second offense in light of a 2006 gun conviction for which he served two years behind bars.

“I wish to acknowledge the hard work and commitment of the detectives and prosecutors in each of these cases,” Commissioner Evans said. “May these arrests bring some level of comfort to the victim’s families.”

“These arrests reflect our shared policy of thorough investigations in every case,” Conley said. “Police and prosecutors never give up on these cases or the families we work with.”

Guerrero was gunned down just before 11:00 a.m. in the area of 11 Windsor St. in Boston’s South End. Based on information from a tipster, two suspects were identified: one, JOSE CARRASQUILLO (D.O.B. 3/6/71), allegedly made statements to Boston Police detectives acknowledging his role in a plan to rob Guerrero. He was charged with Gurerrero’s murder in March 2013 and that case is pending. The other was Diaz, against whom the continuing investigation developed evidence leading to this week’s indictments.

Bigby and a male companion were shot at about 3:15 p.m. in the area of 310 Walnut Ave. in Roxbury. She died of her injuries and her companion was rushed to Boston Medical Center with injuries that were not life-threatening. In the days, weeks, and months that followed, investigators interviewed witnesses, obtained phone records, and executed search warrants leading to Howard’s identification as a suspect and linked him to a double-shooting earlier that same day in which the victims, ages 21 and 26, did not cooperate with police. That incident took place at about 5:40 a.m. on Humboldt Avenue.

Howard is currently in custody on another firearms charge and is due back in Suffolk Superior Court on that charge on July 8. His arraignment on the murder charge has not yet been scheduled.

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