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Teen under arrest in Springfield shooting

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Teen under arrest in Springfield shooting By Associated Press  |   Wednesday, December 15, 2010  |  http://www.bostonherald.com  |  Local Coverage SPRINGFIELD – Police say a 34-year-old man is dead and an 18-year-old man is facing a murder charge following a shooting in Springfield. Witnesses tell police that three armed men forced their way into a South End apartment at about 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday and shot and stabbed 34-year-old Ramon Leonardo-Cruz. Leonardo-Cruz was taken to a hospital with a gunshot wound to the back and a stab wound to the chest. He was pronounced dead. A car seen speeding from the scene was found a short time later. Juan Bermudez was arrested at his home and charged with murder. He is scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday. Police believe the slaying was drug-related and more arrests are possible. It was the city’s 16th homicide of the year. Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1303311

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Statistics on hate crimes are sparse Communities chart few, if any, bias offenses

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Statistics on hate crimes are sparseCommunities chart few, if any, bias offenses By Maria CramerGlobe Staff / December 13, 2010 Hundreds of cities and towns in Massachusetts, including some of the state’s most diverse, report few or no hate crimes, statistics that civil rights advocates say are implausible and troubling. FULL STORY HEREhttp://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2010/12/13/statistics_on_hate_crimes_are_sparse/ HATE CRIME GRAPHhttp://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2010/12/13/hate_graphic/

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No bail for 3rd man charged in Mattapan bloodbath

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No bail for 3rd man charged in Mattapan bloodbathBy Laurel J. Sweet  |   Thursday, December 9, 2010  |  http://www.bostonherald.com  |  Local Coverage Booking photo of Edward WashingtonPhoto by Boston Police A telemarketer has been fingered by witnesses as one of three men connected to the Sept 28 executions of a young woman, her 2-year-old son and two other men, as well as the life-threatening wounding of a third man, according to a prosecutor and a police report released today. Edward “Eddie” Washington, 31, of Dorchester was ordered held without bail this morning after pleading not guilty to four counts of murder, armed assault with intent to murder, home invasion, armed robbery and unlawful weapons charges at Dorchester District Court. “I don’t believe it. I don’t believe he did it,” Washington’s longtime attorney John Cunha said. Washington was today accused by Edmond Zabin, chief of homicide prosecutions in Suffolk county, of supplying two firearms used in the Woolson Street executions over theft of drugs, cash, a safe and a television set. Police have told the Herald only one of the guns has been recovered — from the home of Washington’s cousin, Kimani Washington. Kimani Washington, who Cunha suggested is at odds with Edward Washington, has also been charged in the tragedy, but only with unlawful possession of a firearm, possession of marijuana and unlawful possession of one of the victims’ vehicles. Cunha questioned whether Kimani Washington is trying to set Edward up for a fall. “If (prosecutors) are riding that horse, they’ve got the wrong horse,” he said. “This is not a police state. We have judges and juries who deal with the law. I understand the public is upset, but you can’t rush to judgment. He is 31. People grow up.” Edward Washington and co-defendenat Dwayne Moore are both charged with the murders. Moore is also being held without bail while Kimani is being held on $500,000 cash bail. Witnesses have identified Edward Washington as driving his cousin and Moore to the crime scene, of being armed with a gun and being an active participant in the robbery, according to a police report released today. For the third time, family and friends of the five victims — Eyanna Louise Flonory, 21, her 2-year-old son Amanihoteph Smith, her boyfriend Simba Martin, 21, and Levaughn Washum-Garrison, 22, and surviving victim Marcus Hurd — packed the courthouse to hear the still unfolding gruesome details of how they lost their loved ones. The strain showing on their faces. Today, however, there was a spontaneous applause following Edward Washington’s arraignment. “Thank God, thank Jesus,” said Jackie Daughtry, Eyanna Flonory’s cousin. Till Freeman, the uncle of Marcus Hurd, the only victim that survived the bloodbath, told reporters the arrest of a third suspect is bittersweet. “We’ve got four people who will never see another Christmas, birthday or anything else. Justice will never be done. Every time there’s another arrest, they (the families) have to go back to square one. Once the healing starts, it’s torn away again, so it’s more pain and suffering. We’re hopeful this is the end.” Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1302010

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Punishments don’t always fit the crimes

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Punishments don’t always fit the crimes DIFFICULT DECISION: Judge Carol S. Ball deliberates over the sentencing of Latoya Thomas-Dickson yesterday in Suffolk Superior Court.By Peter Gelzinis  |   Wednesday, December 8, 2010  |  http://www.bostonherald.com  |  Columnists Photo by Matthew WestChristmas did not come early for Latoya Thomas-Dickson yesterday. A Suffolk judge did not place an electronic bracelet on this 21-year-old woman’s ankle and allow her to go home with her mother. Because this is not your typical redemption story. Last week, a pair of stone killers, Antwan “Twizz” Carter and Latoya’s ex-boyfriend, Daniel Pinckney Jr., were found guilty of the brazen daylight murder of 18-year-old Cedirick Steele. Latoya’s testimony played a crucial role in removing two thugs from the street. Sadly, her journey toward the truth took an abrupt detour into perjury, ending one trial with a hung jury. The state says if you commit perjury in a murder case, you go to jail for the rest of your life. In the streets where Latoya grew up, the punishment for telling the truth to the police is death and, in this case, the death of her mother as well. Latoya’s court-appointed lawyer, Andrew Stockwell-Alpert, told Judge Carol S. Ball when he had his client plead guilty to perjury, he never sought a deal from Suffolk prosecutors in exchange for her truthful testimony. He said he knew Latoya would’ve been shredded by Carter and Pinckney’s defense lawyers if a deal had been in play. Then the two killers may well have skated back to their gang, the Mass Ave. Hornets. The level of intimidation Latoya endured, her lawyer told the judge, was not much different than the fear you’d once find in the drug capital of Medellin. The homicide cops who stood with Latoya’s mother yesterday would agree. They understood that Latoya was not going home on a bracelet, but they wanted no more than a year in MCI-Framingham. Suffolk prosecutor Mark Lee recommended three to four years. The judge shaved off a year, sending Latoya away for up to three years. One furious cop jawed with the prosecutor in the corridor. As for Latoya, who stood handcuffed in the arraignment dock, when she realized she wasn’t going home with a mother battling lupus, her look of disbelief morphed into fear, then anger. “Are you serious!” she yelled as she was led off to jail. Perjury was addressed. Nobody was happy. That included Natasha Steele, Cedirick’s mother, who spent about 20 minutes huddling with Kalda Thomas, Latoya’s mom. “I told her I wished them both well. I said no matter what happens, she still has her daughter. But I don’t have Cedirick. He’s gone.” Rev. Eugene Rivers said the message sent by the court may be different from the one received in the street. “Bottom line,” sighed Rivers, “on the street level, the executive summary of this situation will be simple: ‘No good deed goes unpunished.’ ” Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/columnists/view.bg?articleid=1301640

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Murder arrest eases pain of victim’s family

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Murder arrest eases pain of victim’s family Ann Whitley holds pic of her son, Thomas.By Colneth Smiley Jr.  |   Saturday, December 4, 2010  |  http://www.bostonherald.com  |  Local Coverage Relatives of a Roxbury murder victim yesterday expressed anger but relief at the capture of the suspect allegedly responsible for stabbing the 30-year-old dad of four last month. “Justice is definitely being served,” Ann Whitley said after attending the Thursday arraignment of Tajuan Holloman, 39, of Dorchester for the murder of her son, Thomas Whitley. “He took a life so he should serve life.” Relatives said Whitley was well known in the neighborhood as a worker for the family’s restaurant, Ray’s Soul Food, which is now closed. But he was best known for being a loving father to his children, ages 2, 3, 5 and 10. “There’s four children that’s gonna grow up angry and hard because they don’t have their father,” Whitley’s aunt Shondell Davis said. “Thomas was really funny and really involved in his kids’ lives, always trying to provide for them.” Holloman is being held without bail. “I want the capture of this suspect to mean something,” said Dorothy Whitley, 27, one of the victim’s four siblings. “Hopefully, people who kill will realize that they will be found.” Witnesses at the scene told the family that Whitley’s last words Nov. 6 were “take care of my kids.” Proceeds from the Thomas Whitley Memorial Fund at Citizens Bank will go toward his children. Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1300701

News, Youth

Cops seek thug in MBTA attack on teen women

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Cops seek thug in MBTA attack on teen women ON TAPE: Cameras 
captured images of the suspect in an MBTA attack.By Richard Weir  |   Saturday, December 4, 2010  |  http://www.bostonherald.com  |  Local Coverage Transit police are on the prowl for a brawny thug who assaulted two teenage women aboard an Orange Line train, spewing “homophobic and racial slurs” at them before delivering several violent kicks and spitting in their faces, according to cops. The “bizarre” attack took place Nov. 19 at 10:55 p.m. as the women rode an Orange Line train between Malden and Sullivan Square, said Sgt. Detective Michael Adamson. “They were sitting there minding their own business. We don’t know what his motivation was,” Adamson said. For an unknown reason, the stocky, 6-foot-tall assailant approached the 18- and 19-year-old women, calling them lesbians and using a racial slur aimed at the younger woman, who is black, according to a police report. He then “kicked one of them in the face, cutting her lip, and delivered a blow to the other’s chest,” Adamson said. The suspect exited the train at Sullivan Square and fled, but was caught on surveillance camera. The women got off at Ruggles Station, where they notified cops but declined medical aid. Adamson said it was unclear why the man targeted the women, saying “there was nothing whatsoever to lead the suspect to know” their sexualities. Police asked for the public’s help in identifying the attacker, described as a white man in his 20s, wearing a black and gray Kangol hat, black leather jacket, jeans, white sneakers and a green T-shirt with white lettering. Adamson added that investigators are working with prosecutors to determine whether the alleged attack rises to the level of a hate crime. Anyone with information is asked to call the transit police at 617-222-1212. Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1300717

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Drug probe nets alleged mastermind Multimillion-dollar coke ring busted

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Drug probe nets alleged mastermindMultimillion-dollar coke ring bustedBy Laurel J. Sweet  |   Friday, December 3, 2010  |  http://www.bostonherald.com  |  Local Coverage MONEY BAGS: Officials show off money recovered from the bust of an alleged cocaine ring.Photo by Christopher Evans A Dorchester drug lord dripping with diamonds employed family, lovers and neighbors during the 20 years he ran a multimillion-dollar coke and crack ring — but now faces spending the rest of his days in a no-frills cell, authorities said yesterday. Michael “Muscle Mike” Williams, 43 — a father of six described by a law-enforcement source as one of Boston’s “original gangsters” — topped a chart of 20 men and women charged by the feds yesterday with distributing massive amounts of crack manufactured in Dorchester tenements. “We’re talking about millions and millions of dollars,” U.S. Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz said of Operation Magic Wand. The investigation was ongoing since June 2009 when a “crack cook”-turned-informant told authorities the coke cabal had “devastated the neighborhood,” according to documents released yesterday. “Mr. Williams ran a criminal organization for 20 years in this city, and his major mistake was resorting to violence last year,” said Boston police Commissioner Edward F. Davis. “We told him to stop the violence, put the guns down. He didn’t listen.” The “financially successful, family-run’’ gang was busted by the Drug Enforcement Administration, state and Boston police and the U.S. Marshals. The defendants, who include Williams’ cousin Donald “Ducky” Williams, range in age from 24 to 60. They are scheduled for a Dec. 10 detention hearing in U.S. District Court. Thirteen search warrants executed yesterday yielded nine firearms, a butcher knife, a bulletproof vest, a gas mask, luxury cars, steroids, $125,000 cash and a bag of bling that included a diamond-encrusted Breitling watch from Michael Williams — who kept pit bulls as bodyguards. Authorities also seized three Greenwood Street homes allegedly used to process and sell crack. And last night, the only thing left twinkling on Greenwood — a working-class neighborhood of triple-deckers —were the Christmas lights strung by residents. One man, speaking on condition of anonymity, said he had noticed drug addicts loitering in the area. “It’s good that they shut it down,” he said of the alleged operation. “There was a lot of shootings and stabbings.” Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1300501

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Tensions flare as pair get life

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Tensions flare as pair get lifeBy Marie Szaniszlo and Richard Weir  |   Friday, December 3, 2010  |  http://www.bostonherald.com  |  Local Coverage ‘LEAVE IT ALONE’: Deshawn Steele, brother of murder victim Cedirick Steele, 18, is comforted by family members and friends in Suffolk Superior Court yesterday after the sentencing of Antwan Carter and Daniel Pinckney Jr.Photo by Mark Garfinkel Gangbanger associates of two killers lashed out in court yesterday, shouting, “It ain’t over!” after their thug pals were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the murder of an 18-year-old honors college student. The outburst prompted outrage and anguish from victim Cedirick Steele’s family and community leaders. Law enforcement needs to take swift action to make it “unmistakably clear that such threats will not be tolerated under any circumstance and could be the basis for an arrest,” said the Rev. Eugene Rivers, co-founder of the Boston Ten Point Coalition, a nonprofit that promotes anti-violence. Barring an arrest, he added, police should pay a visit to the men’s homes. “There should be a firm come-to-Jesus meeting,” he said. Judge Linda Giles had left the bench after the sentencing and did not hear the comment, said Supreme Judicial Court spokeswoman Joan Kenney. A court officer discussed the incident with the judge, but they concluded it did not warrant an arrest, which could have been made if the officer perceived direct threats or imminent danger. Jake Wark, spokesman for Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley, said the men who shouted “It ain’t over!” were “clearly affiliated with the defendants, who are members of the Mass. Ave. Hornets.” But he said the remark “does not meet the legal definition of a threat.” “They’re murderers! They’re murderers!” moaned anguished brother Deshawn Steele as 11 court officers led Daniel “Trap” Pinckney Jr. and Antwan “Twizz” Carter out of Suffolk Superior Court. “Leave it alone,” a sobbing woman begged Deshawn, her hand over his mouth. “You cannot let them win. We don’t have that evil in us.” A Bunker Hill student, Cedirick Steele had just finished his Meals On Wheels shift March 14, 2007, when he was randomly gunned down. A jury found the 22-year-old South End defendants guilty of first-degree murder Wednesday. Two previous juries deadlocked. At the last trial, a star witness recanted after Carter allegedly plotted to kill her. At the previous trial, the lone juror holdout was reportedly approached outside the courthouse by a man who made a gunlike motion and said, “Bang.” The juror kept deliberating after insisting the threat was unrelated to the trial. Yesterday, Pinckney, the Hornets’ reputed leader, arrived in court with rosary beads around his neck. He and Carter sat impassively as mother Natasha Steele described in a near-whisper what it was like to have to content herself with speaking to her son’s grave. “He wanted to leave Boston. . . . He wanted to be somebody,” she said. “All that was stolen from me.” Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1300503

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Two found guilty in slay of volunteer Mom: ‘They’re finally gone’

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Two found guilty in slay of volunteerMom: ‘They’re finally gone’By Laura Crimaldi  |   Thursday, December 2, 2010  |  http://www.bostonherald.com  |  Local Coverage Cedirick Steele, left, Antwan Carter, top right, and Daniel Pinckney Jr.Photo by Herald file The family of an innocent young Meals on Wheels volunteer fatally struck by a gangbanger’s bullet finally saw justice yesterday, with guilty verdicts for the two thugs whose previous trials had ended with deadlocked juries. “I’m going straight to the cemetery to see my son and tell him we won. He can rest now. He can rest,” said a tearful Natasha Steele, who buried her 18-year-old son, Cedirick, at Oak Lawn Cemetery in Roslindale in 2007. “I’m just so happy.” Antwan “Twizz” Carter and Daniel “Trap” Pinckney Jr., both 22 and from the South End, will be sentenced today to life in prison. They were convicted by a Suffolk County jury of first-degree murder. Prosecutors had painted a portrait of a chillingly senseless murder. The defendants, members of the Mass. Ave Hornet gang, were driving in Pinckney’s black Pontiac around Highland Avenue in Roxbury on the sunny afternoon of March 14, 2007, when they saw a group of people they thought were rival gang members. After a brief exchange, Pinckney drove the Pontiac a short distance and pulled into an alley. Pinckney gave Carter gloves and a handgun and instructed him to wear the gloves to shoot at one of the rivals, prosecutors said. “Shoot anyone,” Pinckney allegedly ordered. Carter fired eight times, and the shots instead struck Steele, who was standing in the same area. He was shot in the face, torso and neck, prosecutors said. Steele, a Bunker Hill Community College student, was not involved in any gang activity and was waiting for his mother to pick him up when he was shot. He was a graduate of Madison Park High School and a volunteer for Meals on Wheels. “This shattered his family and shattered those that knew him,” Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said. “Make no mistake about it, these defendants got what they deserved.” The verdict marked the end of a long and dark legal ordeal. The first two trials against Pinckney and Carter — who was recorded by police plotting to kill a witness — ended with deadlocked juries. Pinckney’s ex-girlfriend, Latoya Thomas-Dickson, pleaded guilty to perjury for her previous testimony just before this trial began. Conley thanked the jury for its service, as Steele’s family breathed a sigh of relief. “They’re gone. They’re finally gone,” Natasha Steele said in a tearful conversation with a relative after the guilty verdicts were announced. Clutching a heart-shaped necklace charm with a picture of her son and the words “Always Your First Born,” she then left the courthouse to bring a “bunch of joy” to his grave. Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1300266

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Murder victim remembered on Crowell Street

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Murder victim remembered on Crowell Street A memorial for the victim of the city’s 70th homicide of the year appeared on Crowell Street yesterday. By Todd A Prussman  |   Wednesday, December 1, 2010  |  http://www.bostonherald.com  |  Local Coverage As Christmas candles begin to appear on Dorchester’s Crowell Street, a more solemn flame flickered yesterday in front of one home. A memorial candle, several teddy bears and a bouquet of flowers sat yesterday in front of a triple-decker where a 36-year-old man was gunned down Monday evening, the city’s 70th homicide of the year. The victim has not yet been identified and Boston police are seeking information about the shooting. CrimeStopper cards and fliers are tucked into mailboxes up and down the street. Longtime Crowell Street resident Fritzner Dubuisson said the neighborhood can be quiet for years at a time, but that things can change depending on the residents in just one or two households on the short boulevard. “Six years ago, it was awful,” he said, “then it was good. Now it changes, maybe it’s got worse.” Calls to the CrimeStoppers Tip Line at 1-800-494-TIPS are anonymous. Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1300097

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