Thursday, 4:30 PM
Party ended with a fight -- and a fatal gunshot
By John R. Ellement, Globe Staff
Shawndel Mitchell was having a good time with friends when Siraaj Abdulnur ended the party by punching Mitchell -- and then ended Mitchell's life with a gun, a prosecutor said today in West Roxbury Municipal Court.
Abdulnur, 18, is charged with first-degree murder fin the fatal shooting of Mitchell 22. The homicide happened in the early morning hours of Oct. 7 in the Mission Park apartment complex on New Whitney Street in the city's Roxbury neighborhood.
Abdulnur pleaded not guilty through his attorney, James C. Rudser. Judge Anthony Sullivan ordered him held without bail. Abdulnur was kept out of the courtroom during his arraignment because the case against him relies on eyewitness identification, Rudser told the judge.
About 20 of Mitchell's relatives, including his mother and grandfather, were in court. His mother, Heavenly Ray-Mitchell, was too grief-stricken to speak.
His grandfather, Willie Mitchell, said his daughter's heart had been broken. "There's nothing I can say, there is nothing I can do, to take her pain away from her," he said.
Prosecutor Masai King told the judge that Mitchell, who lived in the Roslindale neighborhood, and Abdulnur, who lived in the complex, did not know each other
King said Mitchell had spent the evening with friends at the complex. As the party wound down, Abdulnur suddenly appeared, walked up to Mitchell, and punched him. Mitchell defended himself. As the two fought, Abdulnur pulled a pistol and shot Mitchell once in the chest.
The prosecutor did not offer a motive for the alleged attack.
