Do you know who murdered Benine Timothee? Benine Timothee, a 36-year-old Black woman, had only been in the United States for three months when her life was tragically cut short. Having recently moved from Haiti with two of her children to join her husband in Boston, she was filled with hope for a better life. On the afternoon of Saturday, October 29, 2016, she was walking to an English class at a community center in the Dorchester neighborhood.
Her path took her down Washington Street, a journey she was likely just beginning to familiarize herself with in her new city.
Around 2:30 p.m., the sounds of gunfire shattered the afternoon calm near 152 Washington Street. In what appears to be a cruel twist of fate, Benine was not the intended target of the violence that erupted. A 15-year-old boy was also struck by the gunfire but sustained non-life-threatening injuries. Benine, however, was shot in the chest. An innocent bystander in the wrong place at the wrong time, she was rushed to a nearby hospital where she succumbed to her injuries. Her husband, who had been working to build a life for their reunited family, was devastatingly informed by a police officer that his wife had passed away.
The community was left in shock by the senseless killing of a woman who had come to Boston in search of safety and opportunity for her family. They had survived the catastrophic 2010 earthquake in Haiti, only for Benine to fall victim to gun violence in her new home. In the wake of her death, a GoFundMe page was created to help her grieving husband with the unexpected funeral costs. The investigation into the shooting that claimed Benine Timothee's life remains ongoing. Despite appeals to the public for information, no arrests have been made in connection with her murder, and no suspects have been publicly identified.
