On the evening of January 9, 2017, the life of 19-year-old Khisean Desvarieux, a Black/Hispanic male, was tragically cut short, marking him as Boston's first homicide victim of the year. The incident occurred at approximately 7:27 p.m. on Dearborn Street, near the Orchard Gardens Community Center Boys and Girls Club in the Roxbury neighborhood. Desvarieux, a new father to a baby less than a month old, was shot twice in the stomach.
Witnesses later recounted the sound of the gunfire, stating it "sounded like the Fourth of July."
Wounded, Desvarieux managed to make his way inside the community center before he collapsed. He was rushed to a nearby hospital but ultimately succumbed to his injuries. In the immediate aftermath, witnesses were unable to provide a description of a suspect. The shooting sent shockwaves through the Orchard Gardens community, leaving friends and family to mourn the sudden and violent loss of the young father.
The investigation into the murder led Boston Police to a 17-year-old named Tykorie Evelyn. Shortly after the shooting and a short distance away from the scene, police attempted to speak with Evelyn. He allegedly fled, discarding a firearm before officers were able to apprehend him. In March 2017, a Suffolk County grand jury indicted Evelyn on charges of first-degree murder and illegal gun possession, and he was to be tried as an adult. The case moved forward, and in September 2020, the Supreme Judicial Court ruled that evidence pertaining to Evelyn's flight from police and the recovered firearm would be admissible in his trial. It was also reported that the minor arrested in connection with the murder maintained his innocence and filed a lawsuit against the Boston Police Department, alleging racial profiling.
