Two Teens Charged As Adults In Killing

By John R. Ellement

Suffolk, October 11, 2006 – Two teenagers were formally charged yesterday with working together to fatally shoot a 19-year-old Somalian man on a South End street this summer, a killing that ended the life of an immigrant who fled civil war in Somalia for what his family hoped was safe refuge in the United States.

Mwase Potts, 16, who lives in the South End, and Eloy Sierra, a 15-year-old Randolph High School student, pleaded not guilty yesterday in Suffolk Superior Court, where they were charged as adults with first-degree murder, armed assault with intent to murder, and weapons charges. They face life imprisonment without parole if convicted of first-degree murder.

Both teens were ordered held without bail by Magistrate Gary D. Wilson at the request of Suffolk Assistant District Attorney David J. Fredette, who said in court that Sierra has been identified by at least one witness as the person who shot and killed Abdirauf Abdillahi on June 25. The prosecutor did not identify a motive for the shooting.

In court, Fredette said that as Abdillahi and a friend left Peter's Park on Shawmut Avenue about 11:30 p.m. two individuals dressed in black hooded sweatshirts approached and opened fire. He said five shots were fired, and one struck Abdillahi in the side. Abdillahi and his friend ran toward Abdillahi’s family's apartment on Shawmut Avenue, but he collapsed in a parking lot.

After the shooting, police found Potts picking up spent shell casings and Sierra hiding behind a car on Dwight Street, Fredette said. He said the sweatshirts of both teens were seized and that they tested positive for gunshot residue. He also said that Potts made a lengthy statement, but he did not call it a confession.

A second witness saw the two teens run down Dwight Street, get on bicycles, and then split up after the shooting, Fredette said.

Sierra could be seen looking at a handful of friends and relatives, including his father, who attended the court hearing. Sierra's relatives, some of whom had tears in their eyes after the proceeding, declined to comment. Peter J. Muse, Sierra's defense lawyer, and James H. Budreau, who represents Potts, declined to comment.

Relatives of Abdillahi, who fled Somalia with his family in 1996, also were in the courtroom but left without commenting to reporters.

Source: The Boston Globe

Home | Contact us | Links | Archives