Man who fled life of war slain in city

Abdirauf Abdullahi, a new graduate of Concord-Carlisle Regional High School, had bought a plane ticket to West Virginia, eager to start college life at the University of Charleston.

But less than three weeks before he was due to leave, Abdullahi died early yesterday, fatally shot about 100 yards from his South End home.

He was the apparent target, prosecutors said yesterday, of a 15-year-old who crouched hidden in a park with another teenage friend, then allegedly chased down Abdullahiand shot him. Police said they did not know of a motive for the shooting late Sunday.

It was Boston's 35th homicide of the year, compared to 27 at the same point last year.

Abdullahi, 19, who had escaped war-torn Somalia with his parents and arrived in Boston in 1996, wanted to become a pharmacist, his family said yesterday.

``This is one of those successful immigrant stories; we thought he was going to do it," his cousin and family spokesman, Abdirizak Mahboub, said outside Abdullahi's home on Shawmut Avenue. ``It's tragic that he was saved from the bullets of Mogadishu, but the bullets --" His voice faltered, and he started weeping.

``Something has got to be done," Mahboub said later. ``It's got to be crazy for people here."

Eloy Antonio Sierra of Randolph was ordered held without bail yesterday after pleading not guilty to charges of murder and unlawful possession of a firearm. Sierra, who covered his face with a shirt during his arraignment in Boston Municipal Court, has been charged with a crime one other time, for trespassing, his lawyer said.

Sierra's friend, a South End 15-year-old not identified by authorities because he is charged as a juvenile, was arraigned on a charge of being an accessory after the fact of murder. Sierra's accomplice allegedly tried to retrieve evidence at the scene, according to court documents. He was ordered held on $200,000 bail.

Prosecutors said that witnesses helped police track down the two 15-year-olds, who were arrested near the scene shortly after the shooting, which occurred about 11:30 p.m. Sunday. Police also found ballistic evidence in the neighborhood of red-brick homes, a park, and antique shops.

Sierra's relatives could not be reached for comment last night and it did not appear that any of his family members were in the courtroom yesterday.

Sierra ``denies any involvement," his lawyer, Peter Muse, said during the arraignment. ``The evidence will bear out that Mr. Sierra had nothing to do with this matter."

Sierra had just finished his freshman year at Randolph High School, Muse said. The trespassing charge was dismissed, he said.

``It's quite a jump to suggest he was involved with trespassing, then moved to first-degree murder," he said.

The killing followed a double shooting early Sunday outside a convenience store near Massachusetts Avenue and Washington Street, during which a 12-year-old boy and a 24-year-old man were injured.

The weekend shootings shocked the neighborhood, which, compared to areas in Dorchester, Mattapan, and Roxbury, had remained relatively unscathed in the city's rise in shootings: 203 through Sunday compared to 111 at the same time last year.

Peter Chin thought the popping sounds he heard outside his Shawmut Avenue apartment Sunday night were fireworks. But then he saw police officers gathering evidence outside.

``That's really disturbing," said Chin, who has lived in the neighborhood for 30 years. ``Incidents happen from time to time, but I can't think of one recently when someone has died. The worst thing you worry about is getting caught in the crossfire."

The owner of South End Formaggio, a local wine and cheese store, said she was shocked to learn that the shooting occurred a few blocks away.

``I know shootings have been up, but this one is right around the corner, so it's frightening," Valerie Gurdal said. ``It's certainly not good for business, and it's not good for the neighborhood. You don't want people to give up on the city."

Vonnessa Good-Knight, director of the South End Neighborhood Action Program, said a few clients have asked how to move out of public housing in the South End, because they have children becoming teenagers.

``Even though their child isn't involved in that activity, there's just fear as a bystander," she said.

Mahboub said that the family has no idea why Abdullahi was shot and that they do not know Sierra.

Abdullahi and a friend were walking out of Peters Park on Shawmut Avenue Sunday when they saw Sierra and another boy standing nearby, said David Fredette, an assistant Suffolk district attorney. Abdullahi and his friend saw one of them crouch and point a gun at them, Fredette said. Abdullahi and his friend ran down Shawmut Avenue, toward Abdullahi's apartment on the avenue.

The friend made it inside, but Abdullahi did not follow. When the friend went back outside to find Abdullahi, he saw him lying down, a bullet wound in his torso. Abdullahi was pronounced dead at Boston Medical Center less than an hour later.

Sierra and the other boy ran the other direction down Dwight Street, Fredette said. They returned minutes later, on bicycles, and were identified by Abdullahi's friend and a witness who had seen the boys flee.

Abdullahi's father, Abdigafar Salah, and his mother, Fadumo Mohamed, were too distraught to talk yesterday, Mahboub said.

``It's very sad," Mahboub said, near tears. ``His parents, they had high hopes."

Mahboub said Abdullahi would get up at 5 a.m. on school days to get to school in Concord on time. After school, he promptly returned home to study.

``This young man, he was so bright," Mahboub said. ``Nobody had any problems with him, never."

Abdullahi had been accepted by several universities, Mahboub and friends said, but was offered a scholarship by the University of Charleston, which describes itself on its website as a private, coeducational residential college with 1,000 students from 30 states and 27 countries.

``He was a kid who had dreams, you know?" said a friend, Asaad Mohamed, 29.

Suzanne Smalley of the Globe staff and Globe correspondent Emma G. Fitzsimmons contributed to this report. Maria Cramer can be reached at mcramer@globe.com.