On a cold December day in 2008, the life of 16-year-old De’Andre Barboza, a Black/African American male, was tragically cut short in the Codman Square area of Dorchester, Massachusetts. The day before what would have been his 17th birthday, De'Andre was standing at the corner of Lyndhurst and Washington streets when he was shot multiple times. He was rushed to Boston Medical Center with grave injuries, including a fatal gunshot wound to the head.
After fighting for his life for two days, he succumbed to his injuries on December 3, 2008.
The investigation into the shooting revealed that the violence stemmed from a dispute that had occurred the previous day between De'Andre and another young man. This altercation led to the fatal encounter on December 1st. The individual identified as the shooter was Patrick Grier, who was 21 years old at the time of the incident. Witnesses reported that after De'Andre fell to the ground from the initial shots, Grier continued to fire at him, striking him in the legs and delivering the deadly shot to his head.
Patrick Grier was subsequently arrested and charged with the murder of De'Andre Barboza. During his trial, the prosecution presented evidence of the prior disagreement as the motive for the shooting. The jury found Grier guilty of first-degree murder. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Years later, Grier's legal team filed an appeal, arguing that prosecutors had unfairly dismissed Black jurors during his trial. However, the state's highest court upheld the conviction, stating that the jurors were dismissed based on their age and not their race. The court affirmed that Patrick Grier had received a fair trial and that his life sentence was deserved for the murder of De’Andre Barboza.
