Man shot to death near City Councilor Mejia’s Dorchester home

Candles were part of a make shift memorial at Capen and Evans Streets.Jonathan Wiggs/Globe Staff

A man sitting in a parked car was shot to death Thursday night in Dorchester, just steps away from the front door of City Councilor-at-Large Julia Mejia, who said the slaying was a painful reminder of street violence that has left residents “living in fear.”

According to Boston police and recordings of police transmissions by Broadcastify,com, the mother of the victim called 911 to report that her son was shot around 10 p.m. Thursday near the intersection of Capen and Evans streets.

Boston Emergency Medical Services personnel were at the scene within 4 minutes of being dispatched and immediately determined the man was dead at the scene, according to Broadcastify recordings of EMS dispatchers.

Screams of grief from people at the scene could be heard in the background of police radio transmissions.

“I did hear the wailing of those families, and I still hear the screech of those sounds, yes,’' Mejia said in a somber voice during a telephone interview Friday.

She also tweeted about her frustration and sadness shortly after the slaying.

A homicide steps from my stoop. This is not normal. This is not okay. This is not acceptable. This is sad. pic.twitter.com/JPhmdHdhoF

— Julia Mejia (@juliaforboston) February 5, 2021

Mejia, who has been involved in anti-violence efforts since the 1990s in Boston, aid she is frustrated and saddened to once again be confronted with violent death in the city.

“This is the new normal. Nobody is immune to this when it comes to homicide,’' she said. “Just because you are a city official doesn’t mean anything. We are all dodging the same bullets. We are living in fear in the city of Boston.”

Mejia said she did not know the man who was killed and was generally familiar with the victim’s mother as a neighbor one sees in passing. She declined to discuss the incident further. citing the ongoing investigation by police.

Mejia said gun violence in the city has had a personal impact on her during her decades as a resident and as someone who spent part of her career working as an anti-violence advocate.

Last year, the boyfriend of her pregnant niece was murdered in the city, a person was killed in chair at the Geneva Avenue hair salon favored by Mejia and her daughter. In 2010, a cousin was murdered. Louis D. Brown, whose murder in 1993 inspired his mother to create the Peace Institute that carries Brown’s name, was a neighbor.

“The fact that this is happening right in front of my house is nothing new because this is what I live every day in the city of Boston,’' Mejia said, adding that violence should be treated like a public health emergency.

Officers who arrived on the scene provided a description of a vehicle seen driving away from the shooting scene, and police caught up with the vehicle a few minutes later and a few blocks away. Three men were taken into custody, but police said no one has been charged in connection with the Evans Street shooting.

The homicide investigation is ongoing.

The Dorchester shooting was one of two homicides recorded in Boston during about 90 minutes Thursday night. Homicide detectives responded to the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Downtown Crossing around 11;30 p.m. after a woman was shot and killed inside the hotel.

Police have arrested a man on gun charges while they investigate what connection, if any, he has to the Hyatt Regency murder, officials said.