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Boston Ten Point's Season of Peace?!?

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Blackstonian EditorialJamarhl Crawford Publisher/Editor The Boston Ten Point Coalition under the leadership of Rev. Jeffrey Brown has for the past several years promoted a “Season of Peace” through flyers and ads on MBTA buses.  This begs the question: Exactly what is the Season of Peace. Questions are many, answers are few. As a researcher I found it troubling that besides the flyers and bus ads, i can’t get any information on exactly what this Season of Peace is. There is no information on what Peace is or how to achieve it, very little or misleading contact information, the flyer directs you to the 10 point website http://bostontenpoint.org and one year’s flyer had the 10 Point’s office number on it 617-524-4331 but after several calls with no response and after discovering that unless you call between 9am – 5pm you will get an answering machine with not so much as a separate box for the Season of Peace. If I was a youth who was on my way to committ a murderous act and all of a sudden a MBTA bus goes by with the Season of Peace ad on it and I was moved, what would be my next step. The ad gives no information, no instruction on how to achieve peace and a call to the office will most likely go unanswered.  The Rev. Jeffrey Brown has for years promoted this campaign and talked about it in conjunction with neighborhood walks through Boston’s “hot spots”. As a resident of Humboldt Avenue, known as H-Block, and after speaking with many of my friends from other Hot Spots across the city, no one has seen the Reverend or the Season of Peace campaign, except on TV when Brown is conducting Press Conferences or on the MBTA ads. Other than that no one seems to know what the Season of Peace is all about or what work Rev. Brown is doing. On Thanksgiving Day, Thursday November 25th, Rev. Brown held a press conference announcing this years “Season of Peace” in front of the Warren St. Quick Stop convenience store which was the site of a daylight AK-47 shooting which resulted in the death of Mother of four, Tahitia Milton and the shooting of the store’s owner on Oct. 23rd. Why would Rev. Brown choose this store, over a month later to hold a press conference announcing the latest annual incarnation of the Ten Point campaign? Has Rev. Brown reached out to the families of the victims of that tragedy? Is Rev. Brown somehow involved in the community response to this instance of senseless violence? The Blackstonian encourages all of its readers to conduct your own research and draw your own conclusions. What is the Season of Peace? Below you will see what the Ten Point Coalition has on its website regarding the Season of Peace. from:  http://www.bostontenpoint.org/seasonofpeace.htmlSeason of Peace Season of Peace campaigns are designed to promote anti-violence. This project was launched to send a consistent message of peace to youth who were involved in the violence. The efforts of community members, churches, community organizations, police, probation, transportation department, schools, and youth detention facilities helped decrease violence across the city. The media campaign used symbols and slogans youth use in daily conversations to communicate that violence is not the answer to deal with conflict.The second part of the Season of Peace is the neighborhood walks component which galvanizes our partners to walk through troubled areas of the city to engage youth and families.

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Two from eatery killing laid to rest

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Two from eatery killing laid to restBy Marie Szaniszlo  |   Sunday, November 28, 2010  |  http://www.bostonherald.com  |  Local Coverage GRIEF: Distraught family and friends leave Sacred Heart Church in Roslindale after a funeral Mass for Winzisky Soto.Photo by Jim Michaud The wife and two young daughters of one of three men killed last Sunday in a shootout and knife fight at a Jamaica Plain pizzeria bid a tearful farewell to him yesterday. “Thank you for being a great dad to my girls,” Carolina Quinchia Soto said, standing before dozens of mourners at Sacred Heart Church in Roslindale with her daughters, Jazebel and Isabella. “You left me the most precious gift. You left me my girls. For that, I love you.” “I love you,” the girls said, repeating after her. Then their mother kissed 27-year-old Winzisky Soto’s coffin goodbye. Soto and Johnnel “Bo” Cruz, 20, both of Jamaica Plain, and Ariel Dume, 20, of Roxbury were killed about 7:30 p.m. Nov. 21 during an alleged confrontation between rival gang members at the Same Old Place, a popular Centre Street pizza shop. Cruz allegedly stabbed Dume, who then shot him and Soto. One bullet cracked a mirrored wall inside the pizzeria, another pierced a wall separating the dining area from the kitchen, and a third shattered the restaurant’s window. That bullet grazed a woman who happened to be walking nearby with two other women. The killings prompted Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley and other civic leaders to call for peace. Yesterday, funeral Masses were celebrated for Soto and Cruz. “We pray that Winzisky is in heaven, that the Lord will use him as an agent for peace and that people will work for peace in his memory,” the Rev. Charles Bourque said at Sacred Heart Church. Hardened gangbangers wept and took off their baseball caps as they ushered Soto’s body into the church. Afterward, a hearse with American and Dominican flags took his body to Mount Hope Cemetery. Dume’s funeral will be at 10 a.m. tomorrow at Sacred Heart Church in Roslindale. Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1299309

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Cops: Gang war sparked JP shootout 3 dead shatters calm at pizzeria

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Cops: Gang war sparked JP shootout3 dead shatters calm at pizzeriaBy Richard Weir  |   Tuesday, November 23, 2010  |  http://www.bostonherald.com  |  Local Coverage Photo by Angela RowlingsAn apparent grudge match between warring gang members left three men dead, police and friends said yesterday as a usually tranquil Jamaica Plain neighborhood reeled in the wake of the pizza-parlor blood bath. “We have not seen this kind of violence around here for a long time. I have not seen it ever in the center part of JP,” said state Rep. Liz Malia, a 40-year Jamaica Plain resident, as she sat at a table yesterday inside the popular Same Old Place pizza shop — scene of Sunday’s deadly rampage. The outbreak of violence in the family-friendly Centre Street area spurred vows of a quick response by law enforcement. “That type of incident is unusual in a typically quiet neighborhood. However, incidents like that are not acceptable on any street in the city,” said BPD spokeswoman Elaine Driscoll, adding that any “individuals who associate with these three should anticipate a significant amount of aggressive enforcement coming their way.” Gangs have long warred in the Jackson and Egleston Square areas of Jamaica Plain, but the neighborhood’s gentrified downtown has been immune from shootouts. That changed around 7:30 p.m. Sunday, when members of rivaling blocks stumbled across each other at the scruffy, 37-year-old pizzeria, police said. One slug left a spider’s web of cracks in a mirrored wall, another bullet pierced a wall separating the dining area from the kitchen and a third shattered the restaurant’s window. That bullet — or shrapnel — grazed the wife of Boston labor lawyer Alan Shapiro, who happened to be walking nearby with two other women. She’s fine,” said Shapiro, adding his wife — whose name is being withheld by the Herald at the request of her family — was grazed but treated and released from Faulkner Hospital. Pizza shop owner Fred Ciampa, who was not working, said his staff told him they did not know the three men involved in the fight before. “Nothing like this has ever happened before,” he said. “We’re like an institution here. Everybody knows us.” Boston police released few details yesterday on what triggered the outburst, other than that all three male victims had arrest records and were involved in gangs. “The altercation began inside and made its way outside,” Driscoll said. “One individual pulled out a knife. The other individual pulled out a gun and was able to shoot the two other individuals.” The 20-year-old who wielded the knife, identified by his friends and a police source as Johnnel “Bo” Cruz Nova of Jamaica Plain, managed to fatally stab his 20-year-old foe before that man fatally shot him and mortally wounded his 28-year-old friend. Eric Vila, 21, a tattoo artist, said he bumped into Cruz Nova as the two friends ordered pizza at Same Old Place moments before the shootings. They talked about expanding the tattoo of a .38 snub-nosed revolver on his friend’s right arm. “He told me, ‘I’m trying to do my whole arm. I want to put ‘Money, respect, power, with a whole bunch of gunsmoke. Can you do that?’ I told him no problem. See me tomorrow. … I said, ‘You be careful,’ ” recalled Vila, who left the pizzeria to go to a 7-Eleven, only to get a phone call minutes later that his pal had been shot. Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1298288

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DA identifies dead 16-year-old found in Milton

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DA identifies dead 16-year-old found in MiltonBy Joe Dwinell  |   Sunday, November 21, 2010  |  http://www.bostonherald.com  |  Local Coverage A Milton Police cruiser sits at the scene where a mutilated body was found Monday night in the middle of the street in front of 57 Brierbrook Street.Photo by Matt Stone The identity of the young man found horribly mutilated on a Milton street almost a week ago has been confirmed by a fingerprint as 16-year-old Delvonte Tisdale of Charlotte, N.C., the Norfolk DA announced tonight. The teen’s body was found with severe head trauma and his legs and arms were broken, police told the Herald last week. His remains were found on Brierbrook Street near the Blue Hills reservation. Here’s the release just into the City Desk: “Using a fingerprint analysis by State Police Crime Scene Services Section, authorities have been able to identify the young man found dead on Monday night in Milton as Delvonte Tisdale, born November 8, 1994, of Charlotte, North Carolina, Norfolk District Attorney William R. Keating announced tonight. Massachusetts State Police detectives attached to Norfolk District Attorney William R. Keating’s Office and Milton Police traveled to North Carolina this week to continue the investigation into the identity of the man and the circumstances of his death. Massachusetts detectives and detectives from the Charlotte-Mecklenburg County Police Department collected a finger print from a known personal item of Delvonte Tisdale while in North Carolina. That finger print is a match to the finger print taken from the remains of the man in Massachusetts. The investigation into this death remains active and ongoing.” The Charlotte Observer reports that Tisdale may have been traveling to Baltimore with friends who were headed to Boston. A white Audi A4, called “a car of interest,” was spotted in Dorchester and the owners have been interviewed by cops. One is believed to be a Curry College student, police have said. WBTV in Charlotte reports Tisdale was an ROTC student at North Mecklenburg High School and was last seen on Nov. 14. Neighbor Carol Brinson told the TV station Delvonte would volunteer to help her take her garbage out. “He would always stop by and talk, he wouldn’t just wave,” Brinson told WBTV. “But he was soft-spoken and sweet and well-mannered; always out in the yard, helping his dad.” “What kind of person would do this to such a wonderful kid?” she told the station. A hall pass was found on Tisdale’s body that included a name beginning with the letter “D,” followed by “Tisdale,” a signature beginning with the letter “K” and a date: “10/19/2010.” It proved to be the key break in this grisly missing person mystery. Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1297964

News, Youth

Cops struggle to ID beating victim

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Cops struggle to ID beating victimBy Marie Szaniszlo  |   Wednesday, November 17, 2010  |  http://www.bostonherald.com  |  Local Coverage ‘NOTHING EVER HAPPENS HERE’: Milton police officers scour the ground around Brierbrook Street yesterday after a mutilated body was discovered there Monday.Photo by Matt Stone Milton police yesterday made a public plea for help in identifying a young man whose badly battered and mauled, half-naked corpse was found on a leafy, affluent street. The victim, a black male in his mid-teens to his early 20s, was wearing only jeans when his body was found about 9:30 p.m. Monday by a passer-by on Brierbrook Street at Parkwood Drive, said Chief Richard G. Wells Jr. The young man was about 5-feet, 4-inches to 5-feet, 5-inches tall and weighed no more than 120 pounds, with an athletic build and close-cropped hair, Wells said. He had no wallet or tattoos, the chief said. “Right now, we need the public’s help,” he said. “Whoever this young man is, yesterday he got up. But at 9:30 last night, his body was found in a very gruesome condition.” The victim’s entire body was mutilated, Wells said. Police returned to the scene yesterday after more of the young man’s remains were found scattered on the sidewalk. It was unclear, however, whether the young man had been dragged or dropped in the street. Police had hoped to identify the victim through fingerprints, but he had no criminal record, Wells said. Some of his teeth were also missing. Police have since received some calls about missing people, Wells said, but the man’s identity and cause of death so far are unknown. “There’s a multitude of possibilities,” he said. “I really don’t want to speculate.” The grisly discovery stunned residents in the secluded, suburban neighborhood, not far from Route 28 and the Blue Hills Reservation. In the 15 years Laurie Macintosh has lived on Parkwood Drive, the only crime she can remember being reported was the theft of some cash from a car several years ago. “Nothing ever happens here,” said Macintosh, 55. “We’re all mostly small-business owners. . . . I just think of the poor family somewhere that lost their son. It’s creepy that (whoever did this) chose this neighborhood.’’ Chris Tosi, another longtime resident, said he suspects the young man’s body was dumped there by someone looking for a quiet, secluded street. “I just feel so bad for the boy,” he said. “The quality of life people enjoy here is truly magnificent,” Wells said. “But . . . crime is mobile. We’re not immune to that.” Police are urging anyone with information to call them at (617) 698-3800 or, anonymously, at (617) 698-COPS. Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1296945

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Mutilated body found in Milton

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Mutilated body found in MiltonBy Joe Dwinell and Laura Crimaldi | http://www.bostonherald.com | Local Coverage Photo by Fox25 The state medical examiner is now trying to determine the identity of a young man found hacked up and dumped on a sleepy Milton street last night near the Blue Hills reservation. “The identity of the young man, who was the victim of obvious trauma, has not been established,” said David Traub, spokesman for the Norfolk District Attorney’s Office. Traub reports Milton cops and state police spent the night on Brierbrook Street hunting for clues in the hacking homicide. Traub said the man’s remains were scheduled to be transported to the state Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Boston at 4:30 a.m. for an autopsy. Police report a passerby stumbled upon the horrific scene last night around 9:30. The neighborhood is close to the Blue Hills State Park south of Boston off Route 28. Milton Police Chief Richard Wells told the Associated Press officers arriving at the scene “encountered a very gruesome situation.” Investigators do not believe the victim lived in the upscale neighborhood and Wells says the killing does not appear to be connected to any criminal activity in the area. According to published reports, police are looking for two cars seen in the vicinity of the murder scene. Other reports state the victim was found wearing only pants and is a light-skinned young man. Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1296722

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New pot law blamed as violence escalates

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New pot law blamed as violence escalatesBy Laurel J. Sweet and O’Ryan Johnson | http://www.bostonherald.com | Local Politics BIG TIME: Nantucket police recovered 107 marijuana plants in two separate areas over the summer.Photo by Nantucket PD Since recreational marijuana use was decriminalized in Massachusetts last year, pot-related trafficking and violence have escalated across the state, frustrated law enforcement officials tell the Herald. Smoking weed is not a victimless crime, they say. “We knew it was going to be a nightmare for public safety and law enforcement. An ounce of marijuana can make a thousand joints,” Middlesex District Attorney Gerard T. Leone Jr. said. “Question 2 perpetuated a feeling that marijuana is somehow safer than other drugs. It’s another mind-altering substance. What are we doing in this country? Can’t anyone get through the day without a drink or a drug?” In November 2008, by nearly 2 to 1, Bay Staters voted to snuff out the threat of jail time for possession of an ounce or less of cannabis in favor of a $100 civil fine, proceeds from which are intended to puff up city and town coffers. The law, however, provides no enforcement mechanism for police to collect the money. Stiffer penalties for buying or selling the drug, or possessing more than an ounce, remain in place. “Marijuana trafficking is no different from the wholesale distribution of any illicit substance. It’s accompanied by guns and violence in the short term and it floods communities with illegal drugs in the long term. It threatens public safety and public health,” said Suffolk District Attorney Daniel Conley. He said his open trafficking cases — dealing in 50 pounds of pot or more — have hit a historic high since the passage of Question 2 by doubling from roughly two prosecutions at any one time to four. Several recent high-profile killings have been linked by law enforcement to pot, including: The Sept. 30 fatal shooting of Adam Coveney, 29, of Waltham. Four men, including a Newton North High School senior, have been charged in connection with the alleged dealer robbery and murder. The Sept. 28 massacre of four people in Mattapan — among them, a 21-year-old woman and her 2-year-old son — allegedly in a pot-dealing turf dispute. The May 2009 fatal shooting of Justin Cosby, 21, inside a Harvard University dorm, allegedly in a bid to rob him of pot and cash. The June 2009 murder of Tyriffe Lewis, 17, in Callahan State Park in Framingham, where prosecutors say he was lured by two men seeking revenge in a fight over marijuana. In Boston, where one of the most shocking mass killings in recent city history was pot-related, police Commissioner Edward Davis blames drugs in general for surging violence — 65 murders compared to 44 last year at this time. Of Question 2, he said, “I can tell you I’m concerned. I wish we had gone another way in Massachusetts.” But Mike Meno of the Washington-based Marijuana Policy Project, which helped push Question 2, faults partial decriminalization for the violence: “If they’re worried about the criminal element, the answer is to end the criminalization of marijuana and regulate it like alcohol. Marijuana is not going away. Anyone who believes that is naive. It’s used by millions of Americans.” Leone said he fears decriminalization has created a booming “cottage industry” for dope dealers to target youths no longer fearing the stigma of arrest or how getting high could affect their already dicey driving. Leone’s combined distribution and trafficking caseload rose from 445 in 2008 to 464 in 2009. This year’s caseload stood at 422 as of last week, on track to match or exceed last year. Leone, who is handling the Framingham, Waltham and Cambridge murder cases, said, “What we’re seeing now is an unfortunate and totally predictable outcome. It’s a cash-and-carry business.” With more small-time dealers operating, he said, turf encroachment is inevitable. “That tends to make drug dealers angry.” In Essex County, District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett said his marijuana trafficking case load jumped from three in 2007 and one in 2008 to eight in 2009. “It’s a dangerous business,” Blodgett said. “We’ve had arrests of people who’ve never been involved in trafficking before but got involved in the game. And whenever that happens, there’s going to be violence.” Wellesley Deputy Police Chief William Brooks III, speaking on behalf of the Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association, said, “The whole thing is a mess. The perception out there among a lot of people is it’s OK to do it now, so there’s an uptick in the number of people wanting to do it. . . . Most of the drug-related violence you see now — the shootings, the murders — is about weed.” Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/politics/view.bg?articleid=1296392

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Roxbury man dies after stabbing at liquor store

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Roxbury man dies after stabbing at liquor storeBy Colneth Smiley Jr. and Edward Mason  |   Monday, November 8, 2010  |  http://www.bostonherald.com  |  Local Coverage GRIEVING: A friend hugs Shondell Davis, the aunt of the stabbing victim, in Roxbury yesterday.Photo by Matthew WestA 30-year-old Roxbury man died yesterday after being stabbed Saturday night outside a Dearborn Street liquor store, police said. Police did not officially identify the victim, who was stabbed once in the chest outside the Dearborn Liquor Store. He was taken to Boston Medical Center, where he died. Police were called at about 7:55 p.m. and found the wounded man bleeding heavily from a single wound to the chest, according to a police report. Boston police spokesman James Kenneally said no arrests have been made. Robbery is not suspected, but no motive was released. Items memorializing the slain man began appearing early yesterday morning outside the store. Family and loved ones grieved silently and left lit candles, cards and photos. The slaying is the 63rd murder in Boston in 2010, compared with 41 at this time a year ago, as the grim murder rate continues to rise in the Hub. Police are asking anyone with information to anonymously call the Crime Stoppers Tip Line at 1-800-494-TIPS or text the word “TIP” to CRIME. Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1294800

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Man badly stabbed in attempted robbery

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Man badly stabbed in attempted robberyNovember 7, 2010 An unidentified victim suffered a life-threatening injury after being stabbed in an attempted robbery in a store at 60 Dearborn St. in Roxbury last night, police said. Officer Eddy Chrispin said officers responded about 7:58, and the victim was sent to Boston Medical Center. The suspect was a bald, bearded, black male with face cuts; about 5 feet 10, 220 pounds; in a grey hooded sweatshirt. Police urge those with information to call 1-800-494-TIPS or to text “TIP’’ to 27463.

News, Youth

One dead in double stabbing on MBTA bus

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One dead in double stabbing on MBTA busBy Colneth Smiley Jr., Jessica Fargen and Marie Szaniszlo  |   Tuesday, November 2, 2010  |  http://www.bostonherald.com  |  Local Coverage Police investigate a double stabbing on an MBTA bus in front of the Trotter Elementary School in Dorchester at 135 Humboldt Ave. this morning.Photo by Mark Garfinkel A man was stabbed to death and another injured following a fight this morning on an MBTA bus in Roxbury that prompted the lockdown of a nearby elementary school, according to Boston and MBTA police. The man, who is in his 20s, was killed in the double stabbing at about 9 a.m. on a Route 44 bus traveling on Humboldt Avenue, said Joseph O’Connor, deputy chief at the MBTA transit police department. Another man, also in his 20s, suffered minor injures, police said. Both victims are known to police, he said. Boston Police Superintendent William Evans said police are searching for four suspects who were seen fleeing the bus. Police said they will review surveillance camera footage from the area. The incident occurred near the William Trotter Elementary School at 135 Humboldt Ave. The school was in lockdown for at least an hour, said Boston Public Schools spokesman Matt Wilder. The driver of a Route 44 MBTA bus reported the fight, said MBTA spokesman Joe Pesaturo. The bus was parked in front of the school this morning as investigators gathered evidence. A red gym bag and a piece of bloodied cloth could be seen in the street near the bus. A portion of Humboldt Avenue was blocked off and police officers were stationed in front of the school. Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1293309

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