Boston Prosecutor Calls Killing Of 13-Year-Old Out For Walk Near Grandparents’ Home ‘Monstrous Event’

Authorities in Massachusetts have announced that a 34-year-old man has been arrested in connection with the fatal shooting of Tyler Lawrence, a 13-year-old boy slain while out for a walk near his grandparents' home.

Around 11:30 a.m. on Jan. 29, Lawrence was found suffering from multiple gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead at the scene, the Boston Police Department said.

On Feb. 6, an arrest warrant was issued for Csean Skerritt, 34, for the teenager's killing. The suspect was already in custody on a drug-related charge involving fentanyl and he was arraigned the following day on the murder charge.

"There is still a lot that we do not know about this terrible crime," Suffolk District Attorney Kevin R. Hayden said. "But we do know that a 13-year-old was gunned down on a city street on an early Sunday afternoon. And we know that a monstrous event has shaken our city to its core."

Hayden said police believe “the shooter in this case intended to do what he did.”

Skerritt has a lengthy criminal history and allegedly agreed to sell 50 grams of fentanyl in exchange for $1,500 on Feb. 1, just days after Tyler’s shooting, NBC Boston reported.

The district attorney’s office said Skerritt was convicted of firearm offenses in 2011 and 2014. He was also charged with murder in 2015 for an incident that took place the prior year, but a jury found him not guilty of the charge in 2017.

In a statement to The Boston Globe, Tyler’s mother, Remy Lawrence, said the victim's loved ones are “relieved and grateful that Boston police and the district attorney’s office have taken the first steps toward justice."

The grieving mother recently made an emotional plea before the suspect's arrest, according to NBC Boston. “Everybody in this city should be outraged!" Lawrence reportedly said. "And if you’re not, what’s wrong? I just left a funeral home for my 13-year-old son!”

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu noted of the victim: “Tyler was a shining young child at 13 years old with a whole life ahead of him.”

The boy's friend and neighbor, Addie Varon, told CBS News, "They knew him, they knew he was a good boy and that he didn't deserve to die the way he did. I want to see why he had no heart to do that. He was only 13."