No bail for suspects in shootings
Separate slays occurred 2 miles, 12 hours apart in Hub
Two men — one with a paycheck and no criminal record; the other, thrice convicted of violent crimes — are held without bail, separately accused of two murders 2 miles and 12 hours apart.
Armed undercover police and a dozen court officers flooded Dorchester District Court for the murder arraignments of Kevin Dante Williams Jr., 21, and Kai Harris, who observed his 27th birthday yesterday behind bars.
The Rev. Vernard Coulter of New Faith Missionary Baptist Church in Dorchester said his niece is married to the brother of Harris’ alleged victim Terrell White. Coulter is friends with Harris’ family, as well.
“I just think it’s sad that we’re having so many shootings in the community,” Coulter said. “It’s something the community is going to have to face, and I think we can fix it with prayer. I hope it doesn’t escalate. I’m sure people are angry.”
Next door to the courthouse at the Fabian Gas Station, a shrine grows in memory of Jose L. Phinn Williams, the night-shift attendant prosecutors said Kevin Williams — no relation — shot dead Saturday during a botched stickup on the eve of the father of seven’s 63rd birthday.
A community cake filled a table top and balloons bobbed in the breeze outside the neighborhood fillup by an exterior wall that now serves as a mural of condolences and sorrow expressed for the slain man customers called “Cuba.”
Assistant Suffolk District Attorney Jennifer Hickman told Judge Jonathan R. Tynes that police responding to a ShotSpotter activation in Dorchester Center at 11:35 p.m. Saturday found the victim unconscious on the floor of the gas station from a gunshot to his chest. Williams was stopped 20 minutes later by police and identified in part by his Tommy Hilfiger underwear, which matched security camera footage “that captured the incident,” according to court documents.
Kevin Williams’ attorney Aviva Jeruchim vowed her young client will be exonerated. She told Tynes he has been working at a Jiffy Lube and “had absolutely no incentive to commit these offenses — and did not.” She said an analysis of Williams’ cellphone will show “he was nowhere near the scene of the shooting.”
Harris is accused of pulling up next to White, 26, in a red Honda just before 11:30 a.m. Sunday and fatally shooting him as he walked on Itasca Street in Mattapan. The slay was witnessed by BPD gang cops patrolling the neighborhood in an unmarked SUV.
“One of the officers got out and rendered medical aid to Mr. White. The other officer pursued that vehicle and was joined by other officers. That vehicle was apprehended and the defendant was arrested a short distance and a while later,” said Assistant Suffolk District Attorney Julie Higgins.
Higgins said Harris has prior convictions for armed robbery, assault and battery, and assault with a gun — the latter of which he was incarcerated for after violating the terms of his probation.