DA: Defendant Also Fired on Pursuing Boston Police Officer

BOSTON, Feb. 12, 2015—A Hyde Park teen was held without bail today on charges that he shot 21-year-old Kenneth Lamour to death as Lamour shoveled snow on Centre Street in Jamaica Plain yesterday, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.

At the request of Assistant District Attorney Ian Polumbaum, West Roxbury Municipal Court Judge David Breen ordered JOSIAH ZACHERY (D.O.B. 7/13/96) of Hyde Park held without bail. Zachery is charged with murder in Lamour’s homicide and assault with a dangerous weapon for allegedly firing he murder weapon at a Boston Police officer pursuing him in its aftermath.

“Boston Police responded quickly, professionally, and with great restraint even in the face of a deadly threat,” Conley said. “When outdoor shootings are the most difficult to solve locally and across the country, that decisive action made all the difference.”

Polumbaum told the court that the victim, also a Hyde Park resident, was on a shoveling crew with a non-profit organization when he was approached by a man who shot and killed him. Multiple witnesses described the gunman as having a black jacket over a gray hooded sweatshirt.

A nearby Boston Police officer heard the shots and stopped his vehicle.  The gunman pointed a handgun at this officer and, when the officer gave chase, fired at him.  The gunman evaded the officer, but witnesses reported seeing him turn onto a side street and cut behind house, Polumbaum said. Physical evidence showed that the gunman went over a large snowbank into next back yard and continued onto Centre Street away from the killing.

Additional Boston Police officers encountered defendant on Centre Street wearing sneakers, no gloves, a gray hooded sweatshirt, and no jacket. He was carrying a black and yellow snow shovel and told detectives that he had been using it all morning to help residents of several neighborhoods. Witnesses who observed the defendant after he was detained all said he appeared to be the gunman except for the missing black jacket.

Police searched the yard through which the gunman had run and found sneaker prints matching the defendant’s. They also found a black jacket stuffed under the porch and a handgun believed to be the one used to kill Lamour and fire upon the pursuing officer from the snow-covered roof of adjacent garage. Additionally, they spoke with a nearby homeowner who said his black and yellow snow shovel had just been stolen.

Timothy Munzert is the DA’s assigned victim-witness advocate. Zachery is represented by attorney Jack Miller. He will return to court on March 12.

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