Man charged in Chinatown killing
A city man has been charged with fatally shooting a 22-year-old man who stepped out of a Chinatown party last month to have a cigarette, prosecutors said.
Ricardo Edwards Jr., 23, was held without bail yesterday after pleading not guilty in Boston Municipal Court to one count of murder in connection with the May 27 killing of Kevin Reyes of Roxbury.
Judge David Breen allowed Edwards to remain hidden behind a partially closed door at the request of his attorney, Lefteris K. Travayiakis, who argued that there might be an “identification issue” that could taint the ongoing investigation and an eventual jury pool if a photo of the defendant’s face were published.
Reyes was at a party at 66 Hudson St. at about 2:30 a.m., when he stepped outside to smoke, said Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Hickman.
Surveillance video shows that a vehicle approached the building and stopped in the road, Hickman said, and a man wearing a gray hoodie got out and walked over to Reyes.
“On videotape, there appears to be a short conversation between the two,” she said, “and then Mr. Edwards is observed raising his arm and firing multiple shots into the victim’s torso.”
Investigators also found surveillance video of the defendant leaving a Boston-area bar earlier in the evening, Hickman said.
Last Thursday, they obtained a warrant for his arrest and appealed to the public for help in finding him and a suspected accomplice, Greg Wright, 21, of Cambridge.
In an interview on Saturday, when Edwards turned himself in, Hickman said he initially denied being at the bar in question that evening but changed his story after he was confronted with the club’s surveillance video.
When asked whether he later stopped at 66 Hudson St., she said, he told investigators he was too drunk to remember.
Hickman did not offer a motive for the shooting but said, “At this point, this is a live investigation,” one that could result in more charges against Edwards, as well as charges against other suspects. Wright remained at large yesterday, authorities said.