Virginia man held without bail on Sunday shooting death
BOSTON, August 1, 2023 – Video captured on a witness’s cellphone helped lead to the arrest and arraignment today of a Virginia man on murder and firearm charges in the shooting death of a man at Blue Hill Avenue and Washington Street Sunday evening, Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden announced.
RICCARDY ROMAIN, 51, of Chesterfield, Virginia was charged in Roxbury BMC with murder and carrying a loaded firearm without a license. Judge David Weingarten ordered Romain held without bail. Romain will return to court August 23 for a probable cause hearing.
At about 7:47 p.m. Sunday, Boston police responded to a call for a person shot in front of 493 Blue Hill Avenue. They found the victim, later identified as Jackson Beausejour, 33, suffering from an apparent gunshot wound to the neck. Beausejour was transported to Boston Medical Center and pronounced dead.
Assistant District Attorney Sarah McEvoy said responding officers were approached by a witness who showed them video he had taken with his cellphone. The video showed a man with a backward baseball cap, gray beard, light gray t-shirt, dark gray pants and black sneakers holding a dark-colored firearm in his hand, pointing it at the victim, and the victim falling to the ground. The video also showed a black Cadillac pickup truck with an attached U-Haul trailer fleeing the scene.
Several minutes later police spotted the vehicle and trailer stopped at the intersection of Elm Hill Avenue and Warren Street, less than a half-mile from the shooting scene. Police ordered the driver, later identified as Riccardy Romain, and a juvenile passenger to exit the vehicle. The two occupants exited without incident and were placed into handcuffs. A subsequent search of the pickup truck yielded two loaded pistols.
Romain’s clothing was identical to the clothing of the shooter in the video provided by the witness. The juvenile has not been charged.
The shooting was one of several violent incidents in Boston Sunday evening and Monday morning. Hayden Sunday responded to the scene where Beausejour was shot and called on the public to provide information about that shooting and the other violent incidents. He praised the witness for providing the video evidence that helped lead to Romain’s arrest.
“These are the positive things that happen when community members step forward. We’re charging this man today largely due to this person’s brave decision to provide police the information they needed to identify the vehicle and arrest the person inside. We saw some terrible violence on Sunday, violence that our neighborhoods cannot accept and must not ignore. If we as a city and a society want to reduce this gun violence we need to work together to identify the people with the illegal guns and get them off the streets. That’s exactly what happened here and I pray it keeps happening,” 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