On a summer evening in Boston, 25-year-old Aaron Justin Wornum, a Black / African American male, was fatally shot on June 26, 2011. The incident occurred around 9 p.m. near the corner of Sumner and East Cottage streets in the Dorchester neighborhood. Wornum was taken to Boston Medical Center, where he succumbed to his injuries.
The investigation into the shooting led Boston Police to identify a suspect.
Anthony Robertson, a 20-year-old from Dorchester, was arrested in July 2011 by the Boston Police Fugitive Unit and Youth Violence Strike Force. Prosecutors stated that Robertson had been on the phone with Wornum just before the shooting. Wornum was reportedly shot multiple times following an argument.
Following his arrest, Anthony Robertson was charged with murder and unlawful possession of a firearm. He was arraigned in Dorchester District Court and held without bail. Subsequently, Robertson was convicted of first-degree murder in the death of Aaron Wornum. However, in 2018, the Supreme Judicial Court overturned the conviction. The court's decision was based on a finding that the trial judge had erred in handling the prosecution's dismissal of two men of color from the jury pool, raising concerns of racial bias in the jury selection process. The court ordered a new trial for Robertson. The Suffolk County District Attorney's office stated its intention to ask the court to reconsider its ruling.
