The man who pleaded guilty to shooting and killing a 15-year-old boy in Dorchester in 1993 was back in court Thursday, asking for his lifetime parole sentence to be lifted. The victim’s family was also in court, pushing for the case to be reopened to find others that may have had a hand in their loved one’s death.
Charles Bogues is on parole and out of prison after pleading guilty to a gun battle in Dorchester nearly 33 years ago that left 15-year-old Louis Brown after he was caught in the gunfire. Bogues was in court asking the parole board to end his supervision.
“Today, I respectfully submit that the life that I have built since my release demonstrates that the board’s confidence in me was well placed,” Bogues said.
Brown was walking to a Teens Against Gang Violence holiday party five days before Christmas when shots rang out near a convenience store on Geneva Avenue in Dorchester. Brown was hit by gunfire, and was killed.
Four years after the crime, in 1997, Bougues, a college graduate and the son of a Boston police officer, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in connection with Brown’s death. He apologized to Brown’s family in court that day.
“Him being shot was totally an accident. I never saw your son that day, and I never meant to hurt or kill anyone,” Bogues said in court in 1997.
Bogues was eligible for lifetime parole, and was granted his freedom in 2012. Now in his mid-50s, he is asking that he no longer have to check in with a parole officer. He also says there is evidence that his gun did not kill Brown, but he still takes responsibility for firing his weapon and spraying bullets in broad daylight.
“It may have ricocheted off something, but I know for a fact that I never saw Louis that day, I wasn’t aiming at Louis, and I was there firing a gun,” Bogues said in court Thursday.
Brown’s murder led to his family calling an end to street violence, and his mother founded the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute in 1994. She came to testify in court Thursday, and is asking police to reopen an investigation into the case to find more suspects who could have been involved in the death of her son.
“I still want to know what happened to the other people that were shooting that day,” said Clementina Chéry, Brown’s mother.
“Over the years, people have approached me, my mother, my younger brother at different times, telling us they got the wrong guy. We have a voice, but no clear avenue to pursue the truth,” said Alexandra Chéry-Dorrelus, Brown’s sister.
The parole board may take several weeks to make a decision on Bogues’ fate.
