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First indictment announced in Harvard killing

E-mail|Link|Comments () June 26, 2009 10:11 AM

By John R. Ellement, Globe Staff

A New York City man is now under indictment for the murder of Justin Cosby, a Cambridge man who was shot inside a Harvard University residence hall when a “drug rip’’ went bad, resulting in stunning violence on the Cambridge campus.

Jabrai Jordan Coney, 20, allegedly conspired with two other men to attack Cosby, whom Middlesex District Attorney Gerard T. Leone Jr. has said agreed to sell them marijuana, inside Kirkland Hall on May 18. Shots were fired and Cosby staggered out of the dorm onto a street where he collapsed.

Two female Harvard University students with ties to Coney have been linked to the case, but not been charged. Chanequa Campbell and Brittany Smith, both from New York City, were barred from Harvard commencement.

Copney is already in custody and has pleaded not guilty to similar charges during his arraignment in Cambridge District Court. He is being held without bail. The indictment is a routine procedure that shifts the case to Middlesex Superior Court.

A second man Blayn Jiggetts, 19, of Mount Vernon, N.Y., has also been charged and is currently being held by New York authorities as Jiggetts fights efforts by Leone’s office to bring him to Massachusetts to face murder charges here.

A third unidentified man is still being sought. After the shooting, all three men returned to New York City, authorities allege.

An arraignment date has not been set. Copney is charged with first degree murder, first degree murder, accessory after the fact of murder, attempt to commit a crime, armed robbery, and possession of a firearm.