Cornered and seriously wounded by a barrage of police bullets, 19-year-old Manuel “Junior” DaVeiga pressed his .45-caliber handgun to his head Saturday, taking his own life on the same dead-end Dorchester block where moments earlier he had been mourning a murdered friend, authorities said.

Suffolk District Attorney Daniel Conley declared yesterday DaVeiga killed himself - and was not slain by cops - based on the preliminary findings of an autopsy of the Quincy man and a review of witness statements.

A team of three Boston officers and a state trooper assigned to a youth violence strike force had sought to question DaVeiga and several other youths gathered Saturday night at a sidewalk shrine on Navillus Terrace grieving the loss of 17-year-old Andrew Tavares, himself shot to death in Roxbury on March 28.

According to Conley, DaVeiga pulled out an unregistered .45-caliber semiautomatic handgun as the officers approached.

“Mulitple rounds of gunfire were exchanged between DaVeiga and the officers,” Conley said, noting that DaVeiga was left wounded - but still standing - by shots to his chest, hand and hip.

“Preliminary evidence developed to this point indicates that after the exchange of gunfire, DaVeiga reloaded his weapon, put the gun to his head, and shot himself. Police recovered the .45-caliber firearm from DaVeiga where he fell,” Conley added.

As he visited the block where one cousin died Saturday and another was being mourned, Michael Lopes, 18, of Dorchester struggled to fathom that DaVeiga would kill himself.

“His life wasn’t the best life, but I don’t think he would take his own life. He was a good person, always laughing and joyful,” he said, adding that he doesn’t hold any grudges against the officers. “It’s just another life gone. I just lost one cousin and now I lose another cousin to gun violence.”

http://news.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view/20100406da_teen_in_gunfight_killed_self/

By Richard Weir
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Labels: Boston Police Killings , Police , Police Brutality