On the evening of January 7, 2009, a shooting in Dorchester killed 36-year-old Tyrone Smith of Boston. Officers were called at about 9:21 p.m. to the area of 96 Stanwood Street and found two people with gunshot wounds. Smith and a 36-year-old woman were taken to Boston Medical Center; the woman survived with non-life-threatening injuries, while Smith was pronounced dead on arrival.

Prosecutors say Smith was entering the building at 94–96 Stanwood Street with the woman and her 8-year-old son when two men lying in wait opened fire. Smith shielded the woman and child and was struck multiple times, dying in the foyer as the mother and child escaped inside.

Boston Police homicide detectives and Suffolk County prosecutors identified two suspects and arrested them on February 23, 2009. Trevon Mason, 21, and Daryl Pullen, 20, both from Dorchester, were charged with Smith’s murder and ordered held without bail after arraignment.