Ex-dean found guilty in execution-style shooting
Victim, a student, praised for aiding investigation
A courageous teen who identified his former high school dean as the triggerman who shot him execution-style was a key witness who helped convict Shaun A. Harrison of attempted murder yesterday, Suffolk County’s top prosecutor said.
“The victim in the case did a really great job laying out exactly who it was that was responsible,” District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said. “Part of the evidence was in the hospital after the shooting occurred, he told a family member, ‘The Rev. shot me.’ ... We want to thank the victim in this case, Luis Rodriguez, who was an outstanding witness and showed a lot of courage. He was manipulated by the defendant in way that is abhorrent to us. The defendant should have been a role model for this young man, and instead he preyed upon him, put him to work in his drug-dealing operation and then took advantage of him.”
Harrison, a former dean at English High School in Jamaica Plain, was found guilty on multiple charges yesterday including armed assault with intent to murder, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.
Prosecutors said on March 3, 2015, Harrison shot Rodriguez in the back of the head over a dispute over marijuana. Rodriguez, then 17, survived the shooting, which left him with a bullet in his cheek.
Prosecutors said when Rodriguez became useless to Harrison because he was not selling enough marijuana, Harrison decided to end their business relationship.
“The defendant clearly led a double life — he was a fraud,” Conley said. “When he was no longer useful to him, he was prepared to execute him in cold blood. But for a miracle, but for tremendous medical intervention, Luis would be deceased today.”
Harrison’s lawyer, Bruce Carroll, could not be reached for comment following the verdict yesterday.
While executing a search warrant at Harrison’s Roxbury home three days after the shooting, investigators turned up a safe and found 29.5 grams of cocaine, four plastic marijuana bags, one Ruger .380, one Smith & Wesson revolver, ammo and one spent .38 shell casing, court documents said.
After deliberating over two days and about 10 hours, a Suffolk Superior Court jury also convicted Harrison on a slew of other charges, including aggravated assault with a dangerous weapon, unlawful possession of a firearm and possession of marijuana with intent to distribute.
Harrison is slated to be sentenced today, when victims could make impact statements.