Crime
Prosecutors say the Dorchester man shot his friend “in the confusion of the gunfight.”
A man is facing a murder charge after he allegedly shot and killed his friend during a Dorchester gunfight in May, prosecutors said.
Justin Ferrer, 23, of Dorchester, pleaded not guilty and was ordered held without bail during his arraignment in Boston Municipal Court’s Dorchester division on Thursday, Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden’s office said in a press release.
Prosecutors allege Ferrer fatally shot Giovanni Bala, 22, of Dorchester, during a gunfight on May 22 in a parking lot near 260 Bowdoin St.
Assistant District Attorney Cailin Campbell said Ferrer, armed with a gun, entered the parking lot shortly after midnight.
The gunfight erupted around 1:05 a.m. involving Ferrer, his friends, and another group. Ferrer allegedly shot Bala, his friend, “in the confusion of the gunfight,” the DA’s office said.
Bala was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead, prosecutors said.
Ferrer was arrested Wednesday on a warrant issued out of Dorchester District Court, Boston police said.
Prosecutors did not specify the relationship between the groups involved in the gunfight.
Ferrer will return to court Aug. 19 for a probable cause hearing, per court records.
“When illegal guns are in the hands of people perfectly willing to use them — especially in a situation like this, where numerous people are firing at each other — terrible and tragic outcomes are inevitable,” Hayden said. “Here, the outcome is a defendant charged with the death of his own friend.”
An attorney for Ferrer did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday afternoon.
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