Residents want beefed up security at Franklin Hill

Fearful residents of the Franklin Hill public housing development, having experienced their third homicide in the past three months, are pleading for increased police patrols in the massive red brick complex on Shandon Road that has long been known as a haven for violent criminals.

After a 48-year-old man was fatally shot Monday night inside a hallway, some residents expressed frustration yesterday over the violence.

"They should just tear this whole place down," said McKinley Sykes, 60, a longtime tenant in the complex in Dorchester. "I told the management before that, anything short of that won't solve the problem."

The body of the victim, identified by sources close to the investigation as Kelvin Alexander of Providence, was found not far from the spot where two other men, Jeffrey Jones, 41, and Jarrid Campbell, 27, were slain July 13 as they sat in a parked car.

Authorities are investigating whether Alexander is connected to a bank robbery in Quincy earlier that day. On Monday night, police impounded a dark-colored sport utility vehicle with Rhode Island license plates from Shandon Road.

Yesterday, residents crisscrossed the latest site of deadly violence, asking neighbors for details or watching the police. Many tenants clamored for more police foot patrols, especially in areas of the development neighbors know as trouble spots.

"I'm very cautious, because this place just draws the worst kind of people," said Frederick Bridgewater, 65, who lives in the building. He said he recently refused to open his door after someone professing to be a neighbor knocked and told him his car lights were on. "I didn't come out, because there was another resident who was busted on the head and robbed some days before," Bridgewater said.

Jerome Gary, 61, said that he has lived in the development for 14 years and that "it's never been this bad." Gary said that he and his grandson "go inside when it gets dark, and we don't come out."

Bill McGonagle, deputy administrator of the Boston Housing Authority, said his staff will visit the development Thursday to discuss safety with residents.

"We'll evaluate how to best increase public safety there and will continue to do so in the near future," he said.

Boston and Quincy police are looking into whether Alexander is connected to a holdup of the Bank of America on Hancock Street Monday afternoon, said Quincy police Captain John Dougan. The bank robbery occurred at 1:40 p.m., and police chased a suspect through Quincy to the Franklin Hill housing development, where they lost him, but recovered a stack of money and an empty bag dropped on the pavement.

One of the sources with direct knowledge of the investigation said police were then drawn to a Shandon Road apartment where Alexander allegedly was a frequent visitor. Alexander was not found in the apartment.

At 8:09 p.m., police returned to the address after receiving a 911 call. Alexander was found lying on the floor. The source said that officials at the Boston Housing Authority were in the process yesterday of evicting the occupant of that apartment for drug violations.

Police are investigating two possible motives in the slaying: that Alexander was robbed or that he was killed by accomplices after attempting to cut them out of the cash taken from the bank, according to the two sources with direct knowledge of the investigation.

The Rev. William Dickerson, pastor of the nearby Greater Love Tabernacle, said he grew up in the Franklin Hill area. He also said he presided over the funerals of the two men killed in July.

"An increased police presence will calm things down there," Dickerson said. "We saw a decrease in violence when police began patrolling several hot spots in the city, and that's commendable, but we also have to change a whole culture that has become violent."