Four teenagers arrested in Quincy shooting death of 17-year-old Nathan Paul
QUINCY – Four teenagers have been arrested and charged in the death of 17-year-old Nathan Paul, who authorities say was shot and killed in a drug deal gone wrong in Quincy's Germantown neighborhood earlier this year.
In a news release Tuesday, Norfolk County District Attorney Michael Morrissey's office said four juveniles have been arrested in addition to the May indictments of two 18-year-olds.
Massachusetts law requires that all court information involving minors be kept confidential, including identities and specific charges. The teens were arraigned in Quincy District Court on Tuesday in a closed session.
Prosecutors say Paul, of Weymouth, was lured to Germantown to sell marijuana vape cartridges to a group that intended to buy the drugs using fake money and then rob him. Morrissey's office on Tuesday said the teenagers face charges connected to the alleged theft from Paul, as well as the use of fake money and one charge of accessory after the fact of murder "for alleged behavior following the shooting."
Jaivon Harris, one of the two men indicted on a murder charge, has been in custody since his March arrest. The other person who was indicted, Keniel Diaz-Romero, "remains at large."
“This investigation remains active and ongoing, with Massachusetts State Police detectives assigned to the district attorney’s office working closely with Quincy police and law enforcement partners both regionally and nationally as Keniel Diaz-Romero remains under indictment and at large,” Morrissey said in a statement.
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A complicated case
Nathan Paul, a 17-year-old senior at Weymouth High School, died in February after he was shot in Germantown. Court documents paint a muddy picture of what happened on the night of his death.
Prosecutors said juvenile witnesses, identified only by their initials, admitted to stealing vape cartridges from Paul, who then drove away and hit a snow bank. They told police they then heard someone say "shoot him."
Paul was shot once in the leg while driving his car. He was taken to Boston Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.
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Witnesses told police that the person who fired a gun into Paul's car – identified by the initials K.D.R. in court documents – was under 18 at the time of the shooting. The shooter, who officials believe to be Diaz-Romero, then flew to Puerto Rico, authorities said.
In May, Diaz-Romero and Harris were indicted on charges of murder, larceny from a person, possession of a counterfeit bill, uttering a counterfeit bill and conspiracy to commit larceny. Harris faces the additional indictment of misleading police. Diaz-Romero is also indicted on a charge of unlawfully carrying a firearm.
Earlier coverage of the Nathan Paul case
Feb 16: Family says Weymouth teen killed in Quincy shooting
Feb. 28: Prosecutors: Weymouth teen was killed after group stole marijuana from him in Germantown
May 23: Two indicted on murder charges in death of 17-year-old Nathan Paul; one 'remains at large'
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Reach Mary Whitfill at mwhitfill@patriotledger.com.
This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Four teens arrested in Quincy shooting death of 17-year-old Nathan Paul
