On a Saturday afternoon in Boston, a 28-year-old African-American man named Dantley Leonard was on Ames Street in Dorchester, helping a friend move furniture into an apartment in the Franklin Field Development on November 12, 2016. It was a day of ordinary activity that turned tragic when a man approached and opened fire with a. 40 caliber pistol. Leonard was shot 11 times and succumbed to his injuries.
A second man who was with him was also shot three times but survived the attack.
The news of his death sent a shockwave of grief through his family, who remembered him as a father who had recently secured a union job. He left behind a young son and a twin brother, Danley. The family's anguish was compounded when they initially faced difficulties in viewing his body at the hospital, reportedly because he was an organ donor, adding another layer of pain to their sudden loss.
The investigation into the shooting led authorities to Julian Troche. Evidence presented by prosecutors included cell phone location data and traffic camera footage that placed Troche in the area at the time of the murder. Investigators also found that shell casings from the scene matched those from a shooting eight weeks prior where Troche was injured and his friend, Phillip Woods, Jr., was killed. Four days after Leonard's death, police stopped Troche in his car and found gunshot residue on the sweatshirt he was wearing. Prosecutors argued that the motive was revenge, asserting that Troche mistakenly believed Leonard was responsible for his friend's murder.
In August 2019, a Suffolk Superior Court jury convicted Julian Troche of first-degree murder, armed assault with intent to murder, and other charges. He was subsequently sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. However, the legal saga did not end there. In November 2023, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court overturned Troche's conviction and ordered a new trial. The court's decision was based on several factors, including the prosecutor improperly implying that Troche had gang connections and issues related to the handling of potential new evidence that emerged during the trial.
