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Young Dorchester shooting victim recited psalm as life ebbed away

E-mail|Link|Comments () May 5, 2009 05:23 PM

By Brian R. Ballou, Globe Staff

Tamon Evans-Choate was 4 or 5 when his mother packed up and moved from Boston to Florida to carve out a better life for her family. But last year, at the urging of his grandmother who lives in Dorchester, Evans-Choate, 18, returned, according to a relative. The young man, known for his sense of humor and his politeness, soon became entrenched in the local music scene, spending hours at a nearby recording studio.

On Monday night, as Evans-Choate and a friend walked along Tonawanda Street to the studio, a gunman approached them and fired off at least five shots, yelling expletives in the process, some residents said today. One of the bullets hit Evans-Choate under his armpit. As the victim started reciting a psalm from the Bible, residents rushed to the wounded 18-year-old and tried to comfort him, according to witnesses.

Less than an hour later he was pronounced dead at Boston Medical Center.

"He'd be alive right now if he had stayed in Florida with his mother,'' said the victim's great-aunt yesterday, standing at the front door of the apartment that Evans-Choate shared with his grandmother. The great-aunt requested that their names not be used. "There's a lot of anger right now in the family, a lot of finger-pointing and blaming each other."

The victim, whose twin sister lives in Florida, wanted to be a musician, and was planning to make a CD at a nearby studio where he spent many hours practicing. "That was his passion,'' the great-aunt said. "He was so determined to make it. Tamon wasn't in a gang and he wasn't a bad boy. He kept his nose clean, but even good kids have to watch out for danger. He should have stayed at home.''

Evans-Choate was on his way to another practice session Monday night, at 7:19 p.m. As he and a friend walked, a gunman wearing a white T-shirt, dark jeans, and a baseball cap approached them, near the front of 70 Tonawanda, residents said. A single shot rang out.

The noise caught the attention of a man about to walk into a nearby triple-decker to catch the Celtics game at his sister's house. "I thought it was a car backfiring, but then I heard another loud bang,'' said the man, who declined to give his name out of fear of retaliation. A silver-colored four-door SUV, perhaps a Volkswagen, had pulled up and was double parked in the street, near a large white box truck. After at least five shots, the witness said he saw the gunman, his arm pointed forward, with a silver-and-black handgun in his hand. He said the gunman was cursing as he pulled the trigger.

The suspect then ran to the SUV and jumped in the front passenger's seat. As the vehicle sped away, the witness walked into the street, hoping to catch a glimpse of the license plate, but the SUV was gone. Another man, standing on his porch, yelled out "Someone got shot!"

Boston Police Department spokesman James Kenneally said some witnesses told police they saw two potential suspects flee the scene and run in the direction of Waldeck Street.

Evans-Choate was lying on the sidewalk, his arms above his head. He had a smile on his face, but it quickly faded as he said, "The Lord is my shepherd..." and continued reciting the prayer, witnesses said. The teen then asked, "Where am I shot?"

The homicide is the city's 17th so far this year, compared to 20 through the same period last year. The victim's mother, who owns a home and works as a nurse in Florida, is on her way to Boston, the great-aunt said.