Girlfriend’s pinkies cut off after fight, DA says

Girlfriend’s pinkies cut off after fight, DA says

By O’Ryan Johnson  |   Wednesday, April 6, 2011  |  http://www.bostonherald.com  |  Local Coverage

Minutes after a Boston police officer stopped to check on a woman arguing with her boyfriend inside a car, she turned up at Boston Medical Center with her two pinkies severed from a vicious attack, Suffolk District Attorney Daniel Conley said yesterday.

The alleged hacker, Jose Gonzalez, 32, of Somerville, was held without bail following a dangerousness hearing. He was arraigned on a charge of mayhem for the amputation.

Early Saturday morning, Assistant District Attorney Patrick Devlin said, police spotted Gonzalez arguing with a woman inside a car parked on Washington Street. The woman was in tears but told the officer she was not in danger, Devlin said.

Fifteen minutes later, a video camera at Boston Medical Center showed the same woman being dropped off at the hospital entrance, Devlin said.

When contacted by hospital staff, police returned to the area where the car was parked and found a blood trail, a woman’s severed pinky and a bloodied folding knife, according to authorities.

The woman is recovering after losing her two pinkies and nearly losing an index finger, prosecutors said. Authorities identified her as a 30-year-old but did not release her name.

Gonzalez denied seeing the woman injured, prosecutors said. Gonzalez’s lawyer, Arnold P. Cohen, last night declined to comment.

“I don’t think it would be appropriate for me to comment at this time,” he said. “I need to look into this more.”

Gonzalez is a repeat offender with a previous conviction in Suffolk County Superior Court for assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and illegal possession of a firearm, according to prosecutors.

Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1328698

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Galpal charged in fatal stab claims self-defense

Galpal charged in fatal stab claims self-defense
By Natalie Sherman  |   Tuesday, March 1, 2011  |  http://www.bostonherald.com  |  Local Coverage

Photo by Donald Rockhead

A 23-year-old man was stabbed to death by accident when he ran into a knife his girlfriend had grabbed in self-defense, she is contending.

Police found Lancelot Reid stabbed to death shortly after 10 a.m. Friday, after rushing to an apartment in the Franklin Field Housing Development after a 911 call.

Girlfriend Cherry Clinton, 29, allegedly admitted to the stabbing at the scene, but said she grabbed the knife in self-defense because Reid had assaulted her earlier in the day, according to the Suffolk District Attorney’s Office.

But prosecutors said there’s little chance the blade plunged accidentally into Reid’s chest. A knife could not make it through several layers of clothing and into a heart without force being used, Assistant District Attorney Ian Polumbaum said at Clinton’s arraignment yesterday — her 29th birthday — in Dorchester District Court.

A not guilty plea to the murder charge was entered on Clinton’s behalf.

Neighbors told the Herald last week that they regularly heard the couple fighting.

At least five people have died from domestic violence so far this year, Toni Troop, a spokeswoman for the victim’s advocacy program Jane Doe Inc., told the Herald last week.

Of those, two of the alleged perpetrators are women who said they were acting in self-defense, Troop said.

Clinton’s lawyer, John Cunha, did not respond to requests for comment yesterday.

Judge Kenneth Desmond ordered Clinton held without bail. She is due back in court March 31.

Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1320125

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20 YEAR HOMICIDE REPORT - ALL NEW UPDATED!!!

BLACKSTONIAN EXCLUSIVE!!!

The Blackstonian proudly presents the All-New Updated version of the
20 YEAR HOMICIDE REPORT!!
The information is now sortable and visually charted to enhance the brilliant research conducted by Darrin Howell Office of District 7 City Council

In Boston, MA between 1989 and 2008 there were 1,465 homicides. The 20 Year Homicide Report presents and compares homicide numbers by Month & Year, Victim Age, Police District, Arrest Information and Court Information.


This survey was developed by The Office of Chuck Turner District 7 City Councilor and researched and compiled by Darrin Howell, Director of Constituent Services. Not all information is availabile for all years. The web site you are looking at was created by Jacob Leidolf to visualize the findings of the report. It is hosted courtesy of Blackstonian.com.


CLICK HERE TO VIEW
20 YEAR HOMICIDE REPORT
http://www.blackstonian.com/20yearhomicidereport/

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City’s ’10 tally: 72 homicides, most unsolved

City’s ’10 tally: 72 homicides, most unsolved

By Maria Cramer
Globe Staff / December 31, 2010


Boston had 72 homicides in 2010
With just one day to go before the end of the year, only 27 of the 72 killings reported, about 38 percent, had been solved as of yesterday.

FULL STORY HERE
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2010/12/31/bostons_2010_tally_72_homicides_most_unsolved/?p1=News_links

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Murder arrest eases pain of victim’s family

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

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Final victim of pizzeria massacre laid to rest

Final victim of pizzeria massacre laid to rest
By Natalie Sherman  |   Tuesday, November 30, 2010  |  http://www.bostonherald.com  |  Local Coverage

Funeral services for Ariel Dume, one of the victims from last weeks shooting at the Same Old Place pizza restaurant in Jamaica Plain.
Photo by Ted Fitzgerald

The last of three men killed in a knife and gun fight at a Jamaica Plain pizzeria was buried yesterday morning, after a funeral at Sacred Heart Church in Roslindale.

The gathering yesterday morning for Ariel Dume, 20, of Roxbury drew about 70 people and was “subdued,” said The Rev. John Mendicoa, who delivered the homily

“They were very quiet, even in the funeral home,” Mendicoa said, referring to the wake held at Brady Fallon Funeral Home the night before, “The family itself — you could see the pain, especially his mother, Betty.”

Dume’s uncle spoke during the service to say the family loved him and that he was now in a better place, according to Mendicoa.

“He had to interrupt himself several times because he started to cry,” Mendicoa said.

Police say Dume shot and killed Winzisky Soto, 27, and Johnnel “Bo” Cruz, 20, both of Jamaica Plain, after Cruz stabbed him during a gang confrontation Nov. 21 at the Same Old Place, a popular Centre Street pizza shop.

The bullets wreaked havoc in the pizzeria, piercing walls, shattering a window, and grazing a woman who happened to be walking nearby.

Mendicoa said Sunday’s noon mass at Sacred Heart Church—where Soto’s family also gathered to mourn their loss—will be held in memory of all three men.

“It was a very tragic thing,” Mendicoa said. “If the young people don’t carry guns, these things don’t happen. But if you carry guns, you’re going to use them, that is the problem.”

Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1299767

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Boston Ten Point's Season of Peace?!?

Blackstonian Editorial
Jamarhl 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.html
Season 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

Two from eatery killing laid to rest
By 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

Cops: Gang war sparked JP shootout
3 dead shatters calm at pizzeria
By Richard Weir  |   Tuesday, November 23, 2010  |  http://www.bostonherald.com  |  Local Coverage

Photo by Angela Rowlings
An 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

DA identifies dead 16-year-old found in Milton
By 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

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Cops struggle to ID beating victim

Cops struggle to ID beating victim
By 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

Mutilated body found in Milton
By 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

New pot law blamed as violence escalates
By 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

Roxbury man dies after stabbing at liquor store
By 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 West
A 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

Man badly stabbed in attempted robbery
November 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.

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One dead in double stabbing on MBTA bus

One dead in double stabbing on MBTA bus
By 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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Chelsea teen dies after stabbing to heart

Chelsea teen dies after stabbing to heart
By Laurel J. Sweet  |   Monday, November 1, 2010  |  http://www.bostonherald.com  |  Local Coverage

CHELSEA DEATH: Family and friends gather yesterday outside the Grove Street home where 16-year-old Cesar Umana was found stabbed to death.
Photo by Jim Michaud

A 16-year-old boy who friends and family said recently moved back to Chelsea from Miami to be with his mother was found fatally stabbed through the heart on her Grove Street front porch yesterday morning.

“He had no chance, unfortunately,” said Chelsea police Capt. Keith E. Houghton, who identified the teen as Cesar Umana.

Police responding shortly before 1:30 a.m. to a 911 call made from a cell phone regarding a commotion by youth around a car found Umana unconscious in a blood-stained pink Victorian chair, being comforted by a concerned neighbor.

“That’s where they found him,” Houghton said. “Our investigators are trying to find out if it happened there or he was trying to find his way home. We’re still piecing it together. What our detectives are doing now are tracking his last 24 hours.”

Houghton said Umana was taken by ambulance to Whidden Hospital in Everett but died shortly afterward.

He said that at some point, Umana attended Northeast Metropolitan Regional Vocational School in Wakefield, but it was unclear yesterday if he was still a student there.

Cathy Bryant, a dean of students at the school, said Umana’s name was not immediately familiar to her.

The murder weapon has not been recovered, Houghton said.

Friends and loved ones held each other and wept as they stared blankly at the blood spatter on the cement stairs in front of the beige triple-decker at 60 Grove St. near Chelsea City Hall.

Umana’s cousin Ana Hernandez said he was born in El Salvador and had one brother. She said he left Miami to be with his mother, who she said “is doing all right. She’s sad.”

A friend, Saul Hernandez, said Umana moved to Miami “because there’s too many problems here. You can see it in the faces. Everybody can’t believe it.”

Police ask that anyone with information regarding Umana’s murder call Chelsea detectives at 617-466-4826.

Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1292969

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Boston man charged in fatal stabbing at Regis College

Boston man charged in fatal stabbing at Regis College

By Associated Press | Thursday, September 30, 2010 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Local Coverage

WESTON - Authorities say they have made an arrest in connection with the fatal stabbing of a Waltham teenager on the campus of Regis College.
The district attorney’s office said in a statement that 20-year-old Robenson Daniel of Boston was arrested Thursday morning. He is scheduled to be arraigned later in Waltham District Court on charges including murder and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.
Eighteen-year-old Elhadji Ndiaye and a 22-year-old man were found stabbed in a parking lot at the Roman Catholic school in Weston at about 4 a.m. last Friday. Ndiaye was pronounced dead at the scene. The other man survived. Neither victim was a student at he school.
Authorities say the suspect and victims were visiting friends and had a verbal confrontation inside a dormitory that spilled outside and became physical.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1285465

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