Friends recall Medford shooting victim
Man a longtime member of Hub hip-hop scene
As authorities continued to investigate the Friday night shootings in Medford that left one man dead and his father wounded, friends remembered John Hatch as a compassionate family man and longtime member of the Boston hip-hop scene.
Hatch, 36, was fatally shot at his Jerome Street home in West Medford on Friday night in an attack that also wounded his father.
Jessica Venezia Pastore, a spokeswoman for Middlesex District Attorney Gerard T. Leone Jr. said yesterday there was an ongoing investigation into the slaying, but declined to say if investigators were pursing a suspect in the case or provide further details about the shootings.
A musician, Hatch was a founding member of the Boston group Mikst Nutz, which came to prominence in the local hip-hop community during the mid 1990s.
Yesterday, Hatch’s friend and fellow Mikst Nutz member, Osamah Orlebar of Roxbury, said he couldn’t imagine why anyone would want to hurt Hatch.
“I have no idea,’’ Orlebar said. “Johnny never had a problem with anyone. He would give you the shirt off his back.’’
Orlebar said Hatch left a 1-year-old daughter, as well as his girlfriend, the child’s mother.
Hatch’s father remains hospitalized at Massachusetts General Hospital and is expected to survive, Venezia Pastore said.
Orlebar identified Hatch’s father as John Viera of Medford. Orlebar said Viera has a bullet lodged in his jaw.
Hatch’s stepmother was also in the home at the time of the shootings, Orlebar said, but she escaped unharmed.
Another friend and bandmate, Stephen Sutton of Dorchester, said he was dismayed by Hatch’s killing, and remembered Hatch as an incredibly giving person, who always was there for his friends and family.
“Oh, man, he had a big heart, I don’t see how anyone could take his life,’’ Sutton said.
“He had no enemies, he didn’t live that life.’’
Sutton remembered Hatch as a talented performer and an especially gifted songwriter.
“Lyrically, I looked up to him,’’ Sutton said, speaking of Hatch’s skills as a rapper.
“He was the smoothest guy I know.’’
He said he is putting together a fund-raiser and tribute show in Hatch’s honor, featuring several local hip-hop groups.
“It was just such a senseless crime, he wasn’t disliked by anyone,’’ Orlebar said. “To know him was to love him.’’
Stewart Bishop can be reached at sbishop@globe.com. 
