Seven people are facing charges in connection to a November 2023 shooting
BOSTON, July 11, 2024 –Five out of seven people facing charges for their role in the non-fatal shooting of a 20-year-old female in Roxbury in November 2023 were arrested this week during a police search-warrant sweep on Wednesday—and held without bail pending dangerousness hearings, Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden announced.
Police seized three firearms during the sweep, including a firearm modified to become fully automatic.
The following individuals have been charged in the investigation:
· Odanis Brea, 25, charged with carrying a firearm without a license, unlawful possession of ammunition, carrying a loaded firearm without a license, assault and battery with a firearm, possession of a firearm in the commission of a felony, and firearm violation with three prior violent or drug crimes
· Brian Ortiz, 24, charged with carrying a firearm without a license, unlawful possession of ammunition, assault and battery with a firearm, possession of a firearm in the commission of a felony, carrying a loaded firearm without a license (second offense), and firearm violation with two prior violent or drug crimes
· Ja’Mori Williams, 19, charged with carrying a firearm without a license, unlawful possession of ammunition, carrying a loaded firearm without a license, assault and battery with a firearm, possession of a firearm in the commission of a felony
· Orlando Diaz, 20, charged with carrying a firearm without a license, unlawful possession of ammunition, carrying a loaded firearm without a license, assault and battery with a firearm, possession of a firearm in the commission of a felony
· Machyus Battle, 19, charged with carrying a loaded firearm without a license, assault and battery with a firearm, possession of a firearm in the commission of a felony, carrying a firearm without a license (subsequent offense), unlawful possession of ammunition (subsequent offense)
· Ericka Peralta, 25, charged with conspiracy, identity fraud, larceny over $1200, and credit card fraud
· A 17-year-old juvenile male, charged with carrying a firearm without a license, unlawful possession of ammunition, carrying a loaded firearm without a license, assault and battery with a firearm, possession of a firearm in the commission of a felony
Ortiz, Williams, Brea, Diaz and the juvenile were arrested in the sweep and arraigned Wednesday on various firearm-related charges in Roxbury BMC. Ortiz, Williams, Brea and Diaz were ordered held without bail pending dangerousness hearings on July 15. The juvenile was arraigned in Boston juvenile court and held without bail pending a dangerousness hearing on July 16.
Battle is in custody on an unrelated charge and will be arraigned at a later date. An arrest warrant has been issued for Peralta.
At about 8:34 p.m. on November 17, 2023, Boston police responded to reports of a person shot outside of the McDonald’s at the corner of Warren and Dale streets. Officers found a female, 20, suffering from two gunshot wounds – one to her left arm and one to her upper left torso.
Officers also found at the scene a 2023 black Toyota Rav4 belonging to a bystander with two young children sitting in the back seat and ballistic damage to the lower panel of the driver-side front door. The children did not sustain any injuries.
Officers recovered seven fired 9mm cartridge casings from Sherman Street, alongside Dale Street.
A witness reported hearing gunshots and seeing three males wearing black puffy coats jump out of a white SUV parked off Washington Street and flee on foot on Thornton Street. Officers found a 2023 white Jeep Grand Cherokee parked on Oakland Street, which is located between Washington and Thornton streets, less than half a mile from the location of the shooting. Officers noted that the vehicle’s front grill was still blowing heat from the engine, indicating the vehicle had just been parked.
Police later received a call for ballistic damage to a residence on Warren Street, within the line of gunfire from the shooting. Officers discovered ballistic damage to a third-floor apartment, including a window, curtains, and a shelving unit. They recovered one bullet from an internal wall.
Investigators determined that the shots had been fired from a white Jeep Grand Cherokee and that Orlando Diaz was the driver and Ja’Mori Williams the front seat passenger.
Investigators learned the white Jeep Grand Cherokee was fraudulently rented to Orlando Diaz on November 15, 2023 by Ericka Peralta, a former Hertz employee. Peralta used another individual’s ID and credit card to rent a different vehicle to Diaz on November 14. But Diaz exchanged that vehicle for the white Jeep Grand Cherokee the following day after being pulled over by Boston police for an unrelated matter.
A white Mercedes SUV was identified as a “lookout” vehicle to locate and monitor the victim. Investigators were able to identify the four occupants in the white Mercedes SUV as Odanis Brea, Brian Ortiz, Machyus Battle and the 17-year-old juvenile.
In the search warrant sweep Wednesday morning Boston police seized various items, including clothing worn during the shooting, a .38 Smith and Wesson revolver containing six rounds, a Glock 24 loaded with 14 cartridges, a Glock-19 with a sear switch and a 24-round magazine loaded with 23 cartridges, an unattached sear switch, a firearm magazine, loose rounds of ammunition, and $10,000 in cash.
Sear switches are used to convert semi-automatic firearms to fully automatic. Under current Massachusetts law, possession of an unattached sear switch is not prohibited. A bill currently before the Legislature contains an amendment that would criminalize unattached sear switch possession.
“There are three takeaways here. First, great investigative work to identify these shooting suspects, get these guns off the street and take the people possessing them into custody. Second, we need increased national attention on guns flowing into Boston from easy-buy states such as New Hampshire, Georgia and Virginia. And third, the Legislature needs to pass the pending measure criminalizing possession of unattached sear switches. These devices have only one purpose—to make illegal firearms even more deadly than they already are,” 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