Two teens face charges in 13-year-old's murder

By Globe Staff

Two Boston teenagers are facing charges in the January 2007 slaying of a 13-year-old boy in the city's Jamaica Plain section, Boston Police said today.

Nurudeen Alabi, 19, and Darrell Rodrigues, 17, both of the city's Roxbury section, face murder and weapons charges in the slaying of Luis Gerena, one of the city's youngest homicide victims in recent years.

The two defendants, already in custody on other charges, will be arraigned Friday in Roxbury District Court.

Boston detectives, working closely with Suffolk County prosecutors, solved the case after an exhaustive investigation with extensive cooperation from the community, police said.

"While our work is not yet done, we look forward to speaking in court for a child lost senselessly to violence," Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said in a statement.

Police Commissioner Ed Davis said his thoughts were with Gerena's family and loved ones. "I hope this news brings some small sense of peace as they continue to cope with their sad loss," he said.

Gerena was shot several times on Jan. 12, 2007, shortly after stepping off an MBTA train near the Bromley-Heath public housing development and calling his stepmother on his new cellphone to say he was just five minutes from home.

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