18-year-old killed in daylight Mattapan shooting is identified

The man who was killed in a brazen double shooting in Mattapan Tuesday morning has been identified as 18-year-old Joshua Morales.

Morales and a 19-year-old friend were walking on Wilmore Street shortly before 9 a.m. when two people drove up and opened fire. The friend, who was shot in the chest and leg, is recuperating at a family home in Boston and is expected to make a full recovery, according to his grandfather, Abdulai Deen.

The two teenagers lived in a Boston foster home under the auspices of the Department of Youth Services, but were not in DYS custody, said Rhonda Mann, a spokeswoman for the agency.

Police are looking for a black Acura, which was seen speeding away from the crime scene. Police had not publicly identified either victim as of Wednesday evening, but three law-enforcement officials who spoke on condition of anonymity indentified Morales as the victim.

"I think it's unfortunate 10 minutes from 9 in the morning we have two young kids getting shot. We're looking into the motive," Boston Police Commissioner William B. Evans said Wednesday. "We will have to look into some of what they were involved in in the past and maybe some of that could have probably caused this to happen."

A longtime friend of the victim, who asked not to be identified out of fear of retaliation, told the Globe Wednesday that Morales was a "fun, good kid."

"Ever since I can't stop crying," said the friend, who met Morales years ago through a mutual friend. "He was close to me."

Deen, the grandfather of the surviving teenager, said he was horrified to hear that his grandson was being treated for gunshot wounds. Deen, who lives in Roslindale, said his grandson moved into a Boston group home through DYS about three months ago.

"He's doing OK, he tried to walk today," Deen said. The grandfather said police have been to the home to interview his grandson, but the family has yet to figure out the details of the shooting.

Deen said he did not personally know Morales, but said the deceased victim and his grandson were friends.

At the scene Tuesday, neighbors decried the shooting, which occurred in broad daylight near a busy Mattapan street during the morning commute.

Ajaia Browder, a Wilmore Street resident, recalled that "there were two guys lying in the street, and one was really in pain and someone was standing over him," she said. "They were yelling at the top of their lungs. . . . It was a mess."

Wilmore Street has seen violence in the past, according to Boston police reports. In the summer of 2013, a man was shot outside 19 Wilmore St. And on Sept. 21, 2008, 27-year-old Eduardo J. Escobar of Allston was shot to death. No one has been arrested in Escobar's death, officials said.