2 Held Without Bail In Slaying Of Boston Teen

Two people have been ordered held without bail in connection with the shooting death of a 14-year-old Boston boy.

As the victim's family members watched, Crisostomo Lopes, 20, and Joshua Fernandes, 16, pleaded not guilty to murder and firearms charges in Dorchester District Court.

Prosecutors say Fernandes will be tried as an adult under state law.

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According to Suffolk Assistant District Attorney Patrick Haggan, the two jumped on Nicholas Fomby-Davis Sunday evening as he rode a scooter after going fishing. Haggan said in court that Lopes shot Fomby-Davis three times with a .25-caliber handgun while Fernandes held onto him.

A gun was later found on Fernandes, who told allegedly police "You'll catch one soon!" according to Haggan.

Both suspects were hidden behind a wall and were not visible in court. They were ordered to return to court July 9.

Their defense lawyers declined to comment after the brief hearing.

"I don't know what I'm thinking, actually," the boy's father, Nathaniel Davis Jr., a truck driver and church deacon, told reporters after the hearing. "I don't know where the hatred is coming from."

"Why they did it?" asked the victim's mother, Latrina Fomby-Davis, who stood next to her sister outside the courthouse. "Why? That's all I want to know."

According to police, an undercover officer witnessed the shooting. Police said he and another officer chased down the suspects.

Police didn't disclose a motive but say the victim was not involved in gangs.

"Life is valuable. My nephew didn't deserve this," Nicholas' aunt Angela Fomby told reporters outside the courthouse. "He was a good boy."

Fomby-Davis' death was the 26th homicide in Boston this year, compared with 23 at the same time last year.

He is also the second 14-year-old to be slain in the city in three weeks. A 14-year-old honor roll student, Jaewon Martin, was shot to death last month and a boy with him was injured on a basketball court on the Jamaica Plain/Roxbury line, police said.

Rev. Bruce Wall of Global Ministries Christian Church in Boston said the city and police are merely reacting to rising crime and are doing little to prevent it.

"I'm angry and outraged at that reaction," said Wall. "Boston needs to bring in an independent, urban specialist and do a year-and-half study on the systemic issues going on in our town."