Investigation into Other Assailants’ Identities Remains Active
BOSTON, Feb. 12, 2018—Two young men were held without bail on murder charges stemming from the homicide of 17-year-old Chad O’Connor in Dorchester and the investigation into other potential assailants is still active, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.
RISHAARD SHEPPARD (D.O.B. 5/27/99) and BRANDEN SINGLETON-LEGGET (D.O.B. 11/30/99), both of Dorchester, were arraigned in Dorchester Municipal Court today following their arrests by Boston Police on Friday afternoon. Both were charged with murder for O’Connor’s death after he was beaten and shot on the evening of Jan. 14; Sheppard is additionally charged with unlawful possession of a firearm and Singleton-Legget is additionally charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon – a shod foot.
Judge James Coffey ordered both defendants held without bail.
Assistant District Attorney Catherine Ham of the DA’s Homicide Unit told Coffey that Sheppard and Singleton-Legget were among a group who surrounded O’Connor on Kenwood Street at about 5:30 that evening. Some members of that group allegedly beat and kicked him, and Singleton allegedly left his fingerprints on a car during this physical assault. Sheppard allegedly fired a handgun at O’Connor during the attack, inflicting a fatal gunshot wound to the victim’s head.
Ham said video evidence depicting the assailants before, during, and after the homicide assisted investigators in the days and weeks that followed. In addition to obtaining identifications of Sheppard and Singleton-Legget from that video evidence, investigators recovered from Sheppard’s bedroom a handgun of the same caliber as that used in the homicide. That firearm will be tested against ballistics evidence from the crime scene.
Investigators urge anyone with additional information, including information on the other assailants’ identities, to share it with homicide detectives at 617-343-4470.
Sheppard and Singleton-Legget were represented today by attorneys Drew Segadalli and John Apruzzese. Both will return to court on March 14.
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All defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
