Stephen Bodden was 27 when he was shot and killed on October 10, 2017, in New Bedford, Massachusetts. The shooting also killed 28-year-old Fabio Tavares; both men were struck multiple times in the head and back while riding in a vehicle on Central Avenue after leaving a lounge on Acushnet Avenue. Authorities say the shots came from the back seat and that the vehicle later crashed into a parked car. Witnesses reported seeing the shooter flee on foot.

Prosecutors described the killings as a premeditated, execution-style double murder and mentioned investigators were probing a possible link to an earlier homicide; prosecutors said Bodden had made a video vowing retribution for the killing of a friend he considered a mentor. Authorities identified Carmelo Kercado, Jr. as the suspect, added him to the state s most wanted list, and pursued him for more than two months. Acting on a tip, U.S. Marshals and other agencies located Kercado at a home in Concord, North Carolina; after a brief standoff on December 19, 2017, he was taken into custody and extradited to Massachusetts to face two counts of murder.

If anyone knew Stephen Bodden, Fabio Tavares, or saw the vehicle on Central Avenue that night, please come forward with information.