Xavier G. Rivas, 22, was fatally shot on the night of Saturday, September 2, 2023, near Old Road and Michigan Avenue in Dorchester, Boston, at about 11:41 p.m. Boston police found him with gunshot wounds after a report of a person shot; he was taken to a hospital by Boston EMS and pronounced dead.

Friends and family remembered Xavier, known as Zay, as caring, joyful, and protective; his obituary noted he had graduated high school, recently earned a Commercial Driver’s License and bought his own car. A GoFundMe was launched to help with funeral expenses.

The day after the shooting, on Sunday, September 3, 2023, members of the Boston Police Youth Violence Strike Force arrested 21-year-old Mikai Thomson of Dorchester at Albert Street and Ruggles Street in Roxbury. He was already wanted on an August warrant for firearms charges and assault and battery on a police officer. Boston Homicide Detectives later charged Thomson with Rivas’s murder and with assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon, unlawful possession of a firearm, and unlawfully carrying a loaded firearm; he was scheduled for arraignment in Dorchester District Court. The Boston Police Department continues to investigate.

Did anyone in the Dorchester or Roxbury area see or hear anything that night that could help investigators?