‘Determined to fight’: Boston girl stabbed woman to death over explicit photos, prosecutor says

BOSTON — A 16-year-old Boston girl charged in connection with a deadly double stabbing in Boston over the weekend has been ordered held without bail.

Wilmary Mejia, of the city’s Roxbury section, hid her face behind a wall as she was arraigned Monday in West Roxbury Municipal Court on charges of murder and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon in an alleged stabbing attack that left Brianna Brown, 21, of Boston dead, and a 17-year-old girl seriously hurt on Saturday afternoon.

Officers responding to a report of a stabbing in the area of 5 Woodside Avenue in Jamaica Plain neighborhood shortly before 2 p.m. learned Brown and the other victim had made their way over to the Boston Police Department’s District 13 headquarters on Washington Street, according to law enforcement officials.

Boston 25 obtained a video showing the aftermath when the victims ran over to the substation and surveillance video from a nearby business that shows first responders rushing to the police substation where the victims ran for help.

Both victims, suffering from multiple stab wounds to the chest and neck, were transported to separate Boston hospitals. Brown later died from her injuries. The 17-year-old girl is expected to survive. Her name has not been released.

A woman who knows both victims told Boston 25 she could not believe the altercation escalated to murder. She did not want to appear on camera or provide her name but told us the woman who was killed is a young mother. “Now she is not going to be able to raise her own son because of a mistake. People shouldn’t be doing that,” the friend said.

The double stabbing stemmed from explicit photos that Mejia’s boyfriend allegedly sent to the victims, a prosecutor said.

“That was a problem for the defendant. The defendant sought to fight one or both of the victims, and she made her way to their neighborhood, which required at least one bus to get there,” the prosecutor said. “She made clear several times that she was there to fight. She was determined to fight.”

The prosecutor noted that two male friends who were with Mejia attempted to dissuade her from carrying out her plan, but they were unable to stop her.

Mejia and her boyfriend fled the scene following the incident and were later found at a nearby construction site. A knife was said to be located in the vicinity of Mejia.

Mejia’s attorney argued that there is a “significant amount of evidence” that needs to be sorted out because self-defense or heat of passion may have played a role.

In wake of the incident, a community activist called for more resources for troubled young people.

“We definitely need more resources in our schools, within our churches and congregations within our community centers. We need tools. We need people to help equip our young people in terms of dealing with violence in the streets and dealing with violence between each other,” Rev. Kevin Peterson of The New Democracy Coalition said.

Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden called the incident tragic.

“The scope of this tragedy is immense. One young woman is dead, another is seriously injured, and a third is entering a life-altering journey through the court system,” Hayden said in a statement. “The trauma of this incident touches all of them, and all of their families. It also touches anyone who hopes and prays for a community less beset by pain and loss.”

Under Massachusetts law, arraignments for 14- to 17-year-olds charged with murder happen in regular session and not juvenile session.

An investigation remains ongoing.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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