Norfolk DA: Milton police justified in killing Kerby Revelus

By Martin Finucane, Globe Staff

Norfolk District Attorney William R. Keating has found that Milton police were justified in the fatal shooting of Kerby Revelus, the young man who allegedly killed two of his sisters in a bloody stabbing rampage at their home.

The actions of the officers were "not only necessary and justified, but heroic and demonstrative of a high level of professionalism, integrity and bravery," Keating said today in a statement. He said that if officers hadn't shot Revelus he would have killed a third sister, whom he had already stabbed numerous times.

A State Police lieutenant who supervised the investigation into the March 28 shooting said in his report that police broke into the family home, where Revelus had already attacked two of his sisters, and shouted at Revelus to give himself up, but he ignored them.

"It was only when he lunged in a threatening manner toward the screaming nine-year-old child, cowering in a bedroom corner that officers were forced to use deadly force," the report said.

The lieutenant said it was "reasonable to infer" that if the officers hadn't fired, the girl, who had been stabbed about 10 times and was bleeding heavily, would have suffered additional injury or death.

Revelus killed his sisters Bianca, 5, and Samantha, 17, before attacking the third sister, Sarafina, police said.

The reason for the attack remains unclear. Milton Police have said that Kerby Revelus had gotten into a fistfight with a neighbor on March 27, Bianca's fifth birthday, and that fight was somehow linked to the attack on his sisters the next day.

Neighbors and friends told the Globe that Kerby Revelus often seemed confused after returning home several months ago after serving time in jail. In 2004, Revelus was arrested at the family home after punching a fourth sister during an argument over a phone bill.

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