The unsolved murder of Roxbury's James Mason is the definition of a senseless killing.
On the night of April 14, 2014, the 46-year-old man was out for a walk near his apartment in Warren Gardens, when someone shot and killed him.
James was found on the corner of Dabney and Regent Streets.
No one is sure exactly how long he was there.
Sabrina Mason, one of James' sisters, vividly remembers the knock on the door and Boston Police telling her James was gone.
Sabrina rushed to the hospital anyway. She knew James was gone, but Sabrina needed to identify her brother. She told me she didn't know how long James was left alone on that sidewalk. She didn't want him left alone any longer.
"Everything in me just fell to the floor," Sabrina remembers of the moment Boston Police told her about James' murder. "I immediately got dressed. I don't know how I got to the hospital."
Sabrina and her sister, Jamilah, looked after James. They were close as children, and maybe even closer in adulthood.
When James Mason was younger he played football and his sisters tell me they believe he suffered concussions which led to depression.
They tell me, when James took his medication, he was his old self: friendly, happy.
But sometimes, James just wanted to be alone. He liked to listen to his music at night. And if he was having a bad night, James was known to go out for a walk. It helped him settle down.
That's what the sisters think James was doing the night he was killed. They tell me, James never caused any trouble, and had no known enemies.
They say there is no reason for his murder.
"It's sad," Jamilah Mason told me through her tears. "We all live in a community. We want to be safe and feel safe for our children. Why can't someone go out and have a safe walk in their neighborhood, and go back home? And be able to wake up the next day, like the next person?"
If you have any information about this frustrating case, call Boston Police Crimestoppers at 1.800.494.TIPS
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