Thursday, 4:30 PM
Funeral held for Boston's first homicide victim of 2007
By Brian R. Ballou, Globe Staff
Jason Fernandes, a 14-year-old Brockton boy who was Boston's first homicide victim of 2007, was buried today in Brockton.
About 250 people attended the funeral, held at the St. Edith Stein Parish on North Main Street.
Fernandes was shot to death at 5:45 a.m. Jan. 1, just as he was leaving a family gathering for New Year's Eve on Clarkston Street in Dorchester. His cousin, Christian "Manny" Resendes was also shot, but survived. No arrests have been made.
Dozens of Fernandes' former classmates and teachers attended the funeral. Fernandes was an eighth-grader at the BB Russell School in Brockton, which hosts Phoenix Alternative Programs for students with behavioral problems.
"He was just a great kid with a bright smile,'' said Yolanda Fonseca, who was the victim's fourth-grade teacher at Gilmore Elementary School in Brockton.
