Boston has seen it’s eleventh homicide this year with the most recent shooting death of a teenager riding his bicycle last Wednesday in his Dorchester neighborhood.
The suspects in the case are 16-year old Dushawn Taylor-Gennis and 14-year old Raeshawn Moody, who are being held without bail on murder charges, and they’re being tried as adults, as dictated by state statute.
Legal Analyst for WGBH Daniel Medwed, a law professor at Northeastern University tells WGBH Morning Edition host Bob Seay under Massachusetts’s law, “If a juvenile between the ages of 14 and 18 is charged with intentional murder they face adult time, and an adult sentence. The teens will be held in a juvenile facility until they’re convicted and sentenced, and once they reach the age of 18, they’re transferred from a youth offender wing to general population.”
Medwed says if they’re convicted of first-degree murder, there is the possibility of parole for juvenile offenders.
Current MA Laws On Juvenile Offenders- Massachusetts Health And Human Service Department
The most recent substantial change to the juvenile delinquency code took place in 1996 with the enactment of the "Youthful Offender" statute. Such legislation created a new category for juveniles when they commit a crime. It provides that all juveniles aged 14 and older charged with murder are automatically treated as adults. It further established the new category of "youthful offender" allowing those juveniles aged 14 or older accused of serious offenses, to be charged as youthful offenders at the prosecutor's discretion and subjected to a juvenile, adult, or combination sentence.
The current system defines the offender and type of sentence juveniles may receive.
A youthful offender can receive a commitment to DYS until age 21, a combination DYS commitment and adult sentence or an adult sentence.
Mother's Turn Their Sons Into Police
As a result, three families are shattered following the murder of Dos Santos, who was shot five times at the corner of Fuller and Washington Streets. Officials say Dos Santos and the two accused suspects knew each other. There are also reports that Dos Santos repeatedly denied a request to join up in a local gang, and that may possibly have been a motive for the killing.
The family of Dos Santos was in court yesterday wearing buttons bearing his photo. They sat within view of the families of the two suspects charged in his death. Suffolk Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Hickman says the suspects are visible in surveillance video footage, that shows them ambushing the victim before shooting Dos Santos five times. She doesn't say which suspect pulled the trigger.
Medwed says it’s “quite admirable and commendable” that over the weekend, the mother’s of the suspects turned-in their son’s to police, after they were named as suspects. . Medwed says it points to a relationship of trust and good community policing, at a time when our nation is seeing horrific relationships with police is some communities.
Boston police continue to investigate the shooting. One family member of a suspect says it's a case of mistaken identity. The two suspects are due back in court next month.
To listen to the entire Interview with WGBH Legal Analyst Daniel Medwed and WGBH Morning Edition host Bob Seay, click on the audio link above.
