Three charged in triple stabbing in Mass and Cass area

BOSTON, July 23, 2023 – Three people were arraigned in Roxbury BMC on Wednesday for their role in a triple stabbing on Southampton Street last week, District Attorney Kevin Hayden announced

JADEN MATHIEU, 20, of Dorchester was charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon (firearm), carrying a firearm without a license, and possession of ammunition without an FID card. Judge David Poole ordered Mathieu held without bail pending a dangerousness hearing on July 26. Mathieu has a history of gun related offenses and an additional open firearm case in Roxbury.

JUAN SHANKS, 33, of Dorchester was charged with armed assault to murder and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon (knife). Judge David Poole found Shanks dangerous and ordered him held without bail. Shanks will return to court for a probable cause hearing on August 25. Shanks has long criminal history including a lengthy juvenile record. Shanks has served time for resisting arrest, making threats, possession of a firearm without an FID card, assault with a dangerous weapon, defacing a firearm’s serial number and assault and battery of a police officer.

MIKIA STEED, 38, of Roxbury was charged with two counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon (shod foot and milk crate). Judge Debra DelVecchio set bail at $2,500 and issued a stay away and no contact order between Steed and the other defendants. Steed will return to court on August 18 for a pre-trial hearing. Steed has an open warrant in Suffolk Superior Court for a masked armed robbery that occurred in December 2022.

Around 11:37 a.m. on July 15, officers patrolling the area of Bradston and Atkinson streets were alerted by staff from the Southhampton Street Shelter of two victims suffering from stab wounds to the back. Officers were directed to the first victim, later identified as Juan Shanks, laying on the street in front of the shelter, being treated by nursing staff. The second victim, later identified as Mikia Steed, was located in the shelter’s lobby, also being treated by staff.

While administering first aid, responding officers were instructed to be cognizant of the hundreds of open, uncapped hypodermic needles in the area.

Both Shanks and Steed were transported to local area hospitals. A third victim, later identified as Jaden Mathieu, self-applied to Boston Medical Center, also with a stab wound to the back.

The incident was captured on video from cameras located in front of the shelter. The video shows Shanks being approached by a man, later identified as Mathieu, who appears to be holding a firearm. Mathieu strikes Shanks in the head with the butt end of the firearm before losing control of the weapon and letting it fall to the ground. The firearm is picked up by another man in a purple T-shirt, later identified as Jose Alicea, who appears to place it in his waistband. Alicea then walks under a canopy connected to a green tent on the corner of Atkinson and Southampton streets. Police later secured the tent and recovered two firearms. Alicea has not been charged. 

Shanks and Mathieu are seen on video wrestling on the ground when an unknown suspect wearing a dark colored hoodie and red pants approaches Shanks and stabs him in the back. Shanks is then attacked by multiple people including Steed. Steed, who is wearing heavy footwear, proceeds to punch, kick, and hit Shanks with a milk crate. Shanks then gets up and chases Steed, stabbing her several times in the lower back.

Several security guards nearby attempt to intervene and stop the fight, while doing so, Shanks tosses an object that is later identified as a knife. Steed then walks into the lobby of the shelter and collapses next to the security checkpoint.

An unknown suspect wearing a green T-shirt and blue jean shorts approaches the scene wielding a machete, which was quickly confiscated by a security guard. This individual and the suspect wearing the dark colored hoodie and red pants have not yet been identified.

Shanks, Steed and Mathieu all sustained non-life threatening injuries. Investigators located a folding knife in Shanks’ pants pocket. Overall, police recovered a knife, a machete and two firearms loaded with live rounds.

Hayden praised police and the shelter’s security and treatment staff for their actions during the incident, set amid the epicenter of the homelessness and illicit street activity in the troubled area.

“What’s happening at Mass and Cass is a human tragedy and a community nightmare. This alarming violence illustrates, yet again, the urgent need for a collaborative approach combining all our resources—local, regional and state.  Police and prosecutors continue to target serious offenders and we are seeking additional funding for our Services over Sentences program, which helps low-level offenders escape the area.  But without a comprehensive approach a solution will never be adequately addressed,” Hayden said.   

All charged individuals are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden’s office serves the communities of Boston, Chelsea, Revere, and Winthrop, Mass. The office handles over 20,000 cases a year. More than 160 attorneys in the office practice in nine district and municipal courts, Suffolk Superior Court, the Massachusetts Appeals Court, the Supreme Judicial Court, and the Boston Juvenile Courts. The office employs some 300 people and offers a wide range of services and programs to serve anyone who comes in contact with the criminal justice system. This office is committed to educating the public about the services we provide, our commitment to crime prevention, and our dedication to keeping the residents of Suffolk County safe.

James Borghesani, Chief of Communications