Slaying of teen in ‘21 remains unsolved

Cambridge police seek public’s help

Police in Cambridge are seeking the public’s help in solving the fatal shooting of Xavier Louis-Jacques, a 19-year-old who had been accepted to a Catholic university in Louisiana at the time of his death.

Louis-Jacques, a graduate of Cambridge Rindge and Latin School, was found shot on Pemberton Street early on March 27, 2021, Middlesex District Attorney Marian T. Ryan’s office said Wednesday, three years to the day of the slaying.

Louis-Jacques was taken to Mount Auburn Hospital, where he died, Ryan’s office said. No arrests have been made.

The teenager “was found in the area of the Rindge baseball field and the basketball courts located on Pemberton Street next to his vehicle, a white Lexus sedan,” Ryan’s office said. “He was under a streetlight that was on at the time. The vehicle was locked, and Louis-Jacques still had his phone and keys with him.”

Two people driving by saw the wounded teenager around 12:40 a.m. and called 911, officials said.

His death had been the first fatal shooting in Cambridge since Nov. 16, 2017, when Malachi Mims, 28, was killed in the area of Tremont and Hampshire streets, police said at the time.

During a vigil the week after the murder, Louis-Jacques’s mother, Rayschell McCants, said it felt special to see so many people come out to support her family. She said it is important to remember her son for how he lived more than the way he died.

“I just want people to know that just because somebody shot him doesn’t mean he was related to any type of gang violence or had any association with that,” she said after the vigil. “He was just a good kid.”

McCants said she believed her son was killed while he was selling sneakers to someone.

“If you want something, ask for it,” she said. “Xavier was that person — he would have given it to you. You didn’t need to take it from him.”

Authorities said Tuesday that the investigation remains active and that “detectives are seeking to speak to anyone with information related to this incident.”

“Members of the public with information are asked to call Cambridge Police at 617-3493300,” Ryan’s office said.

People can also provide information anonymously by calling 617-349-9151, or by texting 847411, officials said.

“Begin your text with TIP650 and then type your message,” Ryan’s office said. People can also submit tips through the Police Department’s mobile app or anonymously at www.CambridgePolice.org/Tips.

Louis-Jacques played high school sports and had been accepted to Xavier University of Louisiana, the nation’s only historically Black Catholic university, his godmother, Natasha Anderson, wrote on a GoFundMe page in 2021.