With a little over two weeks left in the year East Boston was poised to end 2021 without a single homicide but that all changed last Thursday on Shelby Street.
Just before 12:30 pm last Thursday, a 16-year-old Eastie resident was walking down Shelby Street on his way to the gym when he noticed a man lying in his car bleeding from a wound.
“I was literally passing by down my street. All I just saw was a guy in his car just wounded. He was just laid back on his chair. That’s all I saw,” the teen told the media outside the crime scene last week. “First thing I did was I went to my mom and I told her to call 911.”
When police arrived they found Diion Reid, 27, of East Boston, in a parked vehicle dead from gunshot wounds. Reid was pronounced by Boston EMS at the scene.
After the discovery of Reid the entire street was cordoned off with police tape as detectives marked evidence, towed the victim’s car and armed tactical officers searched a nearby apartment building. However, no arrests have been made in Reid’s death as of Tuesday.
Police also secured CCTV video from the area that apparently showed an already wounded Reid stumble across Shelby Street, drop his phone, enter and start his car before succumbing to his wounds.
The Boston Police Department is actively reviewing the facts and circumstances surrounding this incident. Anyone with information is strongly urged to contact the Boston Police Homicide Unit at (617) 343-4470. Community members wishing to assist this investigation anonymously can do so by calling the CrimeStoppers Tip Line at 1 (800) 494-TIPS or by texting the word ‘TIP’ to CRIME (27463). The Boston Police Department will stringently guard and protect the identities of all those who wish to help this investigation in an anonymous manner