In the early morning hours of November 23, 2019, the life of 25-year-old Fouad Baghdad of West Roxbury was tragically cut short in a fatal shooting near TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. Baghdad, a male of Algerian descent, had been out with friends at a sports bar, enjoying the evening after a Celtics game. As he and his friends were on Canal Street after 2 a.m., they were approached in what authorities have described as an attempted robbery.
The assailants were allegedly after a gold
chain that Baghdad was wearing. A struggle ensued, and during the altercation, a single gunshot was fired, striking Baghdad in the neck. He was rushed to a local hospital but succumbed to his injuries. The incident left residents and visitors of the bustling neighborhood shaken. Friends of Baghdad remembered him as a cheerful and genuine person who was always trying to make people laugh and had a selfless dream of buying a home for his parents. He was a graduate of Boston Latin School and Bentley University.
Boston Police, who were in the vicinity, responded quickly to the sound of the gunshot. They stopped a vehicle attempting to leave the area at the intersection of Canal and Causeway streets. Inside the car, they found two men and a firearm. The men were identified as 22-year-old Bryan Rice and 24-year-old Anthony Baptista-Goncalves, both from Boston.
Rice was subsequently charged with murder, attempted armed robbery, and unlawful possession of a firearm. Baptista-Goncalves was charged with being an accessory before and after the fact to commit murder and armed robbery. Prosecutors alleged that Rice was the one who shot Baghdad after attempting to steal his gold chain and that Baptista-Goncalves was the driver of the getaway car and the owner of the gun used in the commission of the crime. Both men were arraigned and held without bail.
