Jury convicts Boston man of 2021 Caribbean Festival murder

BOSTON, April 22, 2024 – A Suffolk County jury today convicted OMARA SHEARS, 46, of Boston of first-degree murder in the 2021 stabbing death of 17-year-old Javare Sommerville-Adams outside a pizzeria during the city’s annual Caribbean Festival, Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden announced.

The jury began deliberating on Friday after a four-day trial.  Assistant District Attorney Julie Higgins said that on August 28, 2021, at about 9:19 a.m., Sommerville-Adams was outside Stash’s Pizzeria at Columbia Road and Blue Hill Avenue watching the Caribbean Festival. While in front of Stash’s, Shears reached over and stabbed Sommerville-Adams in the neck.

Shears and Sommerville-Adams were near each other only briefly before the stabbing. After the stabbing, Sommerville-Adams put his hand to his neck, stumbled and fell to the sidewalk. Police quickly came to his aid. He was transported to Boston Medical Center where he was pronounced dead. 

Shears was seen on video looking around after the stabbing. He put on a baseball cap and walked toward Seaver Street.  Video then showed Shears interacting with members of his family while holding a knife in his hand.

Shears and Sommerville-Adams had no known connection to each other. Many members of Sommerville-Adams’s family were in the courtroom when the verdict was read.

“What guilty verdicts can do is bring survivors of homicide victims the knowledge that justice has been served and an offender has been held accountable for their actions. But what verdicts can never do is erase the pain and loss and grief of losing a loved one.  I’m grateful for the jury’s service and verdict in this tragic and inexplicable act of violence—which ended the life of a young man enjoying a city festival—and my office will remain at the service of Javare’s family as they continue to process their terrible loss,” said Hayden, who was also in the courtroom when the verdict was returned.

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