Boston's streets may feel a tad safer tonight as cops nabbed a teenager linked to a cold-blooded killing that rocked a community two years ago. Zykaris Hamilton, a 19-year-old from Mattapan, found himself wrapped in handcuffs Monday afternoon, courtesy of the Fugitive Unit's dragnet on Canterbury Street. The long arm of the law was out for Hamilton on murder raps and gun charges stemming from the untimely end of one Fermin Baez, aged 32, as per the Boston Police Department.
Hamilton’s luck ran out near 450 Canterbury Street at about 5:00 PM, when law enforcement came knocking. This aspiring young man, who had warrants for murder and unlawful firearm possession haunting him out of Suffolk Superior Court, is now expected to take the stand in the very same courthouse. The warrants sprang from a violent night back on June 7, 2021, when the Tremont Street community's peace was shattered by gunfire, Boston Police reported.
It was nearing 9:00 p.m. on that ill-fated June evening when the Boston boys in blue descended on 1510 Tremont Street, leading to a harrowing scene. There, Baez lies wounded by a bullet, his life hanging by a thread. Despite a rush to the hospital, Baez's thread snapped—his death a grim tally in the city's battle against violent crime. And while the streets mourned, detectives delved into the depths of Boston’s underbelly, searching for the pieces of a puzzle they hoped would spell justice for Baez.
The trail that began that night unfurled across months as the Boston Police Department's homicide detectives pieced together the shards of happenstance, unyielding in their quest. Today, the Boston community watched, some with bated breath, as one young man’s fate began to twist tight with the gears of justice. In a call for solidarity and perhaps to wrench more truths from the city's tight-lipped corners, authorities encourage anyone with insights to step forward. Tips can be lodged with Boston Police Homicide Detectives at (617) 343-4470, anonymously through the CrimeStoppers Tip Line, a safe haven for secrets at (800) 494-TIPS, or by texting 'TIP' to CRIME (27463), where the identities of informants are promised sanctity.
The repercussions of June 7 resonate still, echoing in the somber tones of a community grappling with loss. And for those among us buffeted by the high seas of grief and trauma, the Boston Neighborhood Trauma Team (NTT) is a lighthouse, offering 24/7 succor at (617) 431-0125.
