A nine year prison sentence was handed down for a Boston man who entered a guilty plea in connection with the fatal shooting of a Brockton man.
The Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office says that 31-year-old Donta Hood pleaded guilty to a charge of Involuntary Manslaughter, Unlawful Possession of a Firearm and Unlawful Possession of a Loaded Firearm in the 2009 fatal shooting of 49 year-old Charles “Church” Evans on May 13, 2013.
Evans was found lying in the driveway at 227 Belmont Street in Brockton after they received a 911 call reporting multiple gunshots and a male shot.
He sustained gunshots wounds to the chest and was transported to a Brockton Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Hood was identified as the shooter by witnesses and the murder weapon, a Smith and Wesson pistol, was found wrapped in a black sweatshirt that investigators found to belong to Hood.
He was located three days later in a Boston apartment and placed under arrest.
Hood, who was convicted of Possession of Cocaine with Intent to Distribute Subsequent Offense, in August, 2009, had his 5-year State Prison sentence on vacated in the wake of actions by State Drug Lab chemist Annie Dookhan.
Hood was found guilty of a charge of Involuntary Manslaughter,Unlawful Possession of a Firearm and Unlawful Possession of a Loaded Firearm in 2016.
The Appeals Court issued a decision in 2019 reversing Hood’s convictions for involuntary manslaughter and gun charges. The court agreed with Hood’s claim that the judge erroneously denied his motion to suppress portions of the police interrogation, in which he stated that he was holding a gun when it went off during a struggle with the victim, he immediately fled, and he disposed of his blood-stained shirt. The Court determined that detectives who questioned the defendant after giving him the Miranda warnings did not honor his invocation of his right to remain silent. The Commonwealth prevailed on the rest of Hood’s claims in his appeal.
