Survivor Of Mattapan Massacre Testifies

BOSTON — A Boston man who survived being shot in the head has testified in the trial of two men charged with killing a 2-year-old boy and three other people during a drug robbery.

Marcus Hurd, who was left paralyzed in the 2010 shooting, testified from his wheelchair Wednesday in Suffolk Superior Court at the trial of Edward Washington and Dwayne Moore.

During his testimony, Hurd never called anyone by name. He described going to a house on Sutton Street in Mattapan to buy marijuana. That’s when he became a victim of an alleged drug robbery turned violent.

Under direct examination by Assistant District Attorney Edmond Zabin, Hurd described how he and four other people in the house were marched into the street by two armed gunmen. Hurd said he never saw their faces and the man closest to him was armed with a machine gun.

“The gunman ordered me in the bushes, to lay in the bushes,” Hurd testified. “I did as he requested. … [Then,] he shot me in the back of the head.”

Hurd then testified that a few moments after he was shot he heard multiple gunshots nearby and decided to play dead so he would not be shot again.

“[Then] I heard a car engine revving, then I heard, like, doors shutting,” Hurd said.

Defense attorneys pointed out inconsistencies in Hurd’s testimony, parts of which differed from answers he had given earlier to police and to a grand jury. Hurd acknowledged the inconsistencies but dismissed some differences, saying he was “delusional” during those earlier interrogations because of the gunshot wound.

Under cross examination by John Amabile, attorney for defendant Dwayne Moore, Hurd admitted he has been convicted of gun and drug-related crimes. Hurd discussed living by a “code of the street,” giving respect to certain men on the street.

“Being in the streets, regardless of what happens to you you’re supposed to take it,” Hurd said. “For instance being out at one o’clock at night just buying a bag of weed.”

“When you say respect, were you talking about the guy with the bald head?” Amabile asked.

“I mean, yeah,” Hurd responded.

The guy with the bald head was an apparent reference to Kimani Washington, a key witness who testified for the prosecution as part of a plea deal.

Kimani Washington testified that he had gone to the Sutton Street house the night in question with his cousin Edward Washington, and Dwayne Moore.

The plan, Kimani Washington said, was to rob the house of drugs and cash.  He claims that he left the scene before the victims were fatally shot.

Hurd testified that he did not see Kimani Washington at the time of the shootings.

This report was updated March 8 with WBUR Morning Edition content.