"Lee Harmon’s death was one of two apparent homicides that shocked Brockton Wednesday.
Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy Cruz, attempting to explain the increase in deadly violence in Brockton, put part of the blame on the recent release from custody of suspected drug dealers in connection with the wide-reaching state drug lab scandal.
Related: Sunday Globe Special: Dookhan's Drug Relapse
It's a convenient whipping boy, though.
Also see:
Lab scandal makes way into federal court system
It's all tainted now.
US judge says no to release in drug case
Amerikan justice!
Cruz said a homicide victim and a murder suspect this year were among those released because disgraced chemist Annie Dookhan tested evidence in their cases.
Authorities have not made any arrests in Harmon’s killing....
Family said Lee Harmon arrived in Brockton from Mississippi at the age of 14, and spent most of his life helping others. He became a Pentecostal preacher, advising his flock against using alcohol and listening to music with sinful themes.
I guess God called him home.
He retired from Head Start at 65 after developing an ulcer. He never stopped riding his bike.
He will be riding the bike lanes in heaven now.
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I no longer bike with the Boston Globe because I have been down that road before.
"Description released of suspect in Brockton minister’s slaying" by John R. Ellement and Travis Andersen | Globe Staff, August 22, 2013
Authorities released a detailed description Thursday of the man suspected of bludgeoning a 74-year-old Pentecostal minister to death with a hammer Tuesday night in Brockton.
The suspect in the slaying of Lee Harmon was described as a light-skinned Hispanic or Cape Verdean male age 16 to 29, Plymouth District Attorney Timothy J. Cruz’s office said.
An illegal immigrant?
The man, who remained at large Thursday, stands between 5 feet 10 inches and 6 feet tall with a thin or athletic build, officials said.
At the time of the attack on Clinton Street, he was clean-shaven with black hair pulled into a ponytail and wore a black hooded sweatshirt, possibly with a white T-shirt underneath, as well as light-colored shorts and black sneakers, according to the statement from prosecutors.
Harmon who had turned 74 on Monday, was killed as he rode his bicycle to clean the apartment of his disabled daughter, said officials and his family. He was a father and a grandfather, his family said.
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Prosecutors released a photograph of a baseball cap that was recovered at the scene. The dark-colored cap had a Red Sox logo on the front and a red bill.
Now I'm going to hate seeing those kind of hats. Only murderers wear Red Sox caps.
A spokeswoman for Cruz declined to say if officials believe the hat belonged to the assailant. Prosecutors urged the public to contact police if they know anything about the case, the suspect, or the cap.
Harmon’s slaying was followed by another killing less than 24 hours later that triggered a massive police response, culminating in the shooting of the murder suspect in Abington.
Cruz’s office said in a separate statement Thursday that Jeffrey Cicerano, 44, was stabbed to death inside 117 Bellevue Ave. about 11 a.m. Wednesday. The killing was allegedly committed by Alfred Giannini and witnessed by another man.
According to prosecutors, the unidentified witness told police he met the two men at the Bellevue Avenue residence. Giannini, 37, was armed with a large knife and appeared to be panicked about some issue, prosecutors said.
Cicerano was sitting in a chair when Giannini approached from the victim’s left side and stabbed him in the chest, triggering a struggle between all three people in the room at the time, officials said.
“The witness and victim then struggled with Giannini, who repeatedly tried to get other knives within the apartment,’’ prosecutors said in the statement.
Giannini fled out a back door, but then circled to the front of the residence, where he broke a window, and tried to arm himself with another knife while trying to force his way inside, but was forced back by the witness, prosecutors said.
The witness stayed with Cicerano, who collapsed on the floor. Cicerano was rushed to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead about 12:45 p.m., prosecutors said.
Giannini, officials said, broke into a relative’s nearby residence, where he stole jewelry and a motor vehicle, which was later spotted in Abington. Police pursued Giannini, who crashed the vehicle on Jon Drive in Brockton before running into the woods.
He was shot by an Abington officer “after a threatening confrontation with police,’’ prosecutors said.
An arraignment date has not been set; a motive for the attack was not disclosed.
Brockton has had nine homicides this year, three more than in all 2012.
Separately on Thursday, a 47-year-old man was stabbed in the abdomen just before noon in a Dunkin’ Donuts parking lot at 66 Montello St., said Police Sergeant James Baroud. The man’s condition was not available.
Related: Workin' at Dunkin' is Dangerous
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Best not to go into Boston at all.
Related:
Arrest made in beating death of Brockton pastor
Man ordered held without bail in Brockton beating death
