Tag: Kevin Hayden

  • Family says Dorchester man fatally shot by police officer was experiencing mental health crisis

    Truman Dickerson

    Attorney Ben Crump (center) speaking at the Grant A.M.E. church on Thursday. Crump is representing the family of Stephenson King Jr., a Dorchester man who was fatally shot by a Boston police officer last month. Credit: Truman Dickerson

    A high-profile civil rights attorney representing Stephenson King Jr.’s family said Thursday that King was in the midst of a mental health crisis when Boston police fatally shot him and that body camera footage from his shooting should be released.

    “If the officer did nothing wrong, then we should be able to see it on the video,” said attorney Ben Crump, adding that “we believe that video will reveal very disturbing actions.”

    King, a 39-year-old Dorchester man, was fatally shot by Officer Nicholas O’Malley March 11 after King stole a woman’s vehicle and parked it on a street in Roxbury. O’Malley fired three shots as King was maneuvering the car, believing, according to his defense attorney, that King was about to strike another officer on scene.

    O’Malley was arraigned on a manslaughter charge March 19. He pleaded not guilty and was released on personal recognizance. An assistant district attorney said body cam footage showed King was trying to drive away when O’Malley fired the shots and that neither officer was in danger of being struck. 

    King’s family painted a picture of a man with serious, unaddressed mental health issues who was loved by his family and failed by the state’s mental health system. His father, Stephenson King Sr., said King had been to two hospitals the day of the shooting but was discharged from each.

    “His father took him to the hospital, and he somehow got released, and he went to another facility and exhibited paranoia symptoms even there, and then he left,” Crump said. “He took a car and then he parked it. None of it makes any sense.”

    Though members of King’s family met with Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden’s office Thursday morning, Crump said he and the family have yet to see body camera footage of the incident.

    Asked directly if he would sue the Boston Police Department to gain access to the body cam video, Crump deferred, saying “we intend to explore every possible legal remedy available to the family to get justice.”

    Boston City Councilor Miniard Culpepper, whose district includes the area where King was shot, said he asked the council to file a summons for the video Wednesday, but it was objected to.

    “The video will show us the truth about what actually happened,” Culpepper said. “When we ask to see a body cam video, it should be readily available.”

    Culpepper said he would again ask the council to file a summons next week. He said he believes Boston Police Commissioner Michael Cox is within his rights to independently release the video, despite the ongoing investigation by Hayden’s office.

    Members of King’s family, who took turns speaking at the pulpit of Grant African Methodist Episcopal Church, teared up at points as they described a loved one who was crippled by delusions.

    “He still loved his nieces and nephews, his brothers and sisters. He still came to every function that we had,” said King’s sister, Ebony King Gibson.

    King “was one of the kindest, most generous young men,” said Tina Petigny, the fiance of King’s father.

    Petigny said she would often see King speaking to people who weren’t actually there. King’s father said King had recently been putting pieces of paper into electrical sockets, believing that people were watching him.

    King’s father, a retired Massachusetts corrections officer, said he wants to see the video of the shooting.

    “I want to see his face when it really happened,” he said. “Knowing my son, he would’ve been home. He would’ve been home.” 

    This story is part of a partnership between the Dorchester Reporter and the Boston University Department of Journalism.

  • BPD officer charged with manslaughter in shooting death of Dorchester man last week

    BPD officer charged with manslaughter in shooting death of Dorchester man last week

    A Boston police officer charged with manslaughter after he shot and killed a Dorchester man suspected in an apparent carjacking in Roxbury last week was released on personal recognizance after his arraignment Thursday.

    The officer, Nicholas O’Malley, 33, of West Roxbury, pleaded not guilty to the manslaughter charge in Roxbury Municipal Court. He left court with his family and is on paid leave, said Larry Calderone, president of the Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association.

    Officer O’Malley and his attorney, Kenneth H. Anderson, during the arraignment on March 19, 2026. Truman Dickerson photo.

    O’Malley fatally shot Stephenson King, 39, of Dorchester, on March 11 after King allegedly tried to flee during a alleged carjacking pursuit in Roxbury shortly before 10 p.m. O’Malley’s attorney, Kenneth H. Anderson, told the court that O’Malley feared for another officer’s life and fired three shots at King during the encounter.

    But Assistant District Attorney Ian Polumbaum told the court that body camera footage and the testimony of an eyewitness showed that “Mr. King was trying to drive away” when O’Malley fired the shots.

    “Neither officer was in the path of the car or being in danger of being struck by it at the time,” Polumbaum said.

    Polumbaum asked Judge Steven Kim to set bail at $25,000, while Anderson asked that O’Malley be released on personal recognizance. 

    As a condition of his release, O’Malley will have to surrender any firearms, according to court records. 

    Prior to the encounter, King allegedly stole a woman’s car after assaulting her and ordering her out of the car, according to a criminal complaint. He was unarmed and “did show the officers his hands at times” but did not shut off the vehicle or unlock the doors, according to the complaint.

    Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden (right) and Assistant District Attorney Ian Polumbaum spoke to reporters after the arraignment in Roxbury Trial Court on March 19, 2026. Truman Dickerson photo.

    Speaking to reporters after the arraignment, Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden said his office will not release body camera footage of the incident to the public. He also said his office will show evidence to a grand jury and pursue the manslaughter charge in Suffolk Superior Court, although that has not happened yet.

    Some 50 BPD officers were present in the courtroom during the arraignment. Calderone, of the patrolmen’s association, said a Boston police officer has not been arrested and charged in connection with an officer involved shooting in at least 30 years. 

    “I’ve been involved in probably 100 or more police shootings. This is the first one anyone’s ever been arrested,” said Anderson, O’Malley’s attorney.

    Anderson and Calderone took exception to the nature of O’Malley’s arrest at his home this morning, claiming that he would have willingly brought himself to a police station or court to face charges.

    “This is election year tactics,” Anderson added, appearing to reference this year’s district attorney election.

    Hayden disputed that charge, saying the evidence was clear that King was not driving towards O’Malley or the other officer on scene when O’Malley fired the shots.

    “This has nothing to do with public opinion, has nothing to do with politics,” Hayden said. “This has to do with us following the facts and the applicable law.”

    City Councilors Miniard Culpepper and Brian Worrell, in a joint statement issued Thursday, thanked Hayden’s office for “their swift action” in filing charges against O’Malley.

    “As elected city officials, it is our responsibility to build bridges between our community and law enforcement, and transparency is the foundation on which that trust is built,” the councillors wrote.

    Calderone was visibly angry at times as he spoke to reporters outside the courthouse. He said Polumbaum and “whomever else is involved in this investigation” are “jumping to conclusions” and scapegoating O’Malley. 

    O’Malley “was in fear of his partner’s life,” Calderone said. “Just because the camera shows an officer on the other side of the car, with the totality of the circumstances that were taking place, does not mean that the other officer had him in his vision.”