Kin tell of Hyde Park teen's last moments

Older brother says youth shot in front of him

Songs of prayer and mourning spilled from the living room of a Hyde Park home yesterday, where brothers of 17-year-old Roniel Marc said he had promised their parents he would get a job and stay out of trouble.

But Roniel confided in his brother Jimmy, 21, that he believed his life was in danger. A month after returning home from a Department of Youth Services facility, where he had lived 18 months, Roniel was shot and killed while on his way to a neighbor's cookout three houses away, Jimmy Marc said.

Family members gathered on their porch yesterday said Roniel spent much of the Fourth of July riding his bicycle through the neighborhood. But at about 8 p.m., an old acquaintance came to the house looking for Roniel, Jimmy Marc said.

"I was in the backyard, and I heard the guy calling for Roniel," Jimmy Marc said. "I came around and told the guy, 'I don't want you to start stuff, he just got out. Turn around and go back home.' But Roniel came at him to talk. That's when the guy pulled out the gun."

Jimmy Marc said his brother stood about 4 feet away and said, "If you pulling a gun, you better use it." The shooter then pointed the gun in the air and shot twice, and people started running, Jimmy Marc said. "And then he pointed it straight at my brother, pulled the trigger, and killed him."

He was shot at the corner of Edwardson and Lewiston streets, according to police and family members. Police had said a shooting victim was taken to Brigham and Women's Hospital, where he was pronounced dead a few hours later, but did not release his name.

The killing was part of a deadly eight-hour stretch of Fourth of July violence in Boston. In all, seven people were shot, two fatally, in four separate shootings between Friday evening and early Saturday morning. Touching four of the city's neighborhoods, the violence turned the night into one of the bloodiest in the last several years. Police said yesterday that they have strong leads but have made no arrests in any of the shootings.

Jimmy Marc said the shooter was a gang member but his brother was not. "He don't talk to them anymore, and they just hating on him for it," said brother Windy Marc, 22. "When he came home, he changed his ways."

Described as an energetic joker who loved basketball, Roniel often helped neighbors with groceries, yardwork, and car problems. His father, Stepha, said his son was a junior at West Roxbury High School and had planned to attend a technical college. Roniel would have turned 18 on Aug. 12.

"He liked to smile," Stepha Marc said.

His family said Roniel was at the youth facility on Canterbury Street in Roslindale for behavor and anger problems. He wrote home weekly saying he wanted to get a job and change his life, Jimmy Marc said. He was very close with his mother, Chimene, who spent much of yesterday in the small family living room with friends and local clergy. The family moved to the United States from Haiti in 1985, seeking a better life, Stepha Marc said.

"He was very motivated and determined," Jimmy Marc said. "He was more than a brother to me."

Candles blackened from burning through the night surrounded a makeshift memorial at the scene of the slaying. Dozens of teenagers gathered Saturday to remember their friend, known commonly as "1-yell". They placed teddy bears on a telephone pole, layered in plastic wrap, and wrote messages in black marker on poster board and the granite curbing. Farewell messages were also scrawled in the street with red spray paint.

One mourner, who signed her name as Tricia, wrote: "Even though you're gone, you're alive in my heart."

Funeral plans have not been set, Jimmy Marc said.

Christopher Baxter can be reached at cbaxter@globe.com.