3rd man charged in slaying
A third man has been indicted on first-degree murder over a late December shooting in a crowd of people on Dorchester’s Geneva Avenue.
Patrick Harland, 30, of South Boston, is charged with first-degree murder, seven counts of armed assault to murder, witness intimidation, accessory after the fact and carrying a firearm without a license. He pleaded not guilty to the charges in Suffolk Superior Court on Tuesday, where he was held without bail. His case is scheduled to return for a hearing on April 4 at 2 p.m.
Two other men, Dasahn Crowder, 21, of Quincy, and Tyrese Robinson,19, of Randolph, were arrested the day after the Dec. 30 shooting and killing of Curtis Effee, 41, of Boston. They were charged with first-degree murder on Jan. 2 at municipal court in Dorchester.
Prosecutors say that Harland and his girlfriend went to an apartment in the 400-block of Geneva Ave. in Dorchester the night of Dec. 29 and hung out there for several hours. Sometime after midnight, some sort of verbal altercation took place that pitted Harland and his girlfriend against Effee.
The fight escalated enough that Harland called for some murderous reinforcements, according to the prosecution’s statement of the case document. He allegedly sent Crowder — his girlfriend’s nephew — a Facebook message asking for his help at around 12:44 a.m. on Dec. 30, to which Crowder allegedly said “I’m coming now.”
Harland then told everyone that Crowder was coming over with a gun, prosecutors say.
Three minutes later, Crowder and Robinson arrived and the verbal altercation became a physical fight on the street. Prosecutors say that the street wasn’t empty, but that there was a “crowd” of people there, including a 10-year-old boy and an 11-year-old girl.
Prosecutors say that Harland pointed a knife at Effee and that Crowder and Robinson took out guns and started shooting. Effee was fatally struck, and police say he was pronounced dead at the scene.
The three alleged murderers fled the area, with Crowder and Robinson in their car and Harland running on foot.
The Boston Police Department asks that anyone with any information about this incident to contact homicide detectives by calling 617-343-4470.