Pair indicted in January shooting
May 27—SALEM — An Essex County grand jury on Thursday handed up indictments that include charges of attempted murder against two men in connection with a double shooting last January in Salem.
Deven William Kelley, 23, of Malden, who was arrested in February, and Wesly Jordan Alcin, 23, of Everett, who remains at large, will now face charges that include two counts each of armed assault with intent to murder and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon causing serious bodily injury and charges of home invasion and armed assault in a dwelling.
The victims, a 30-year-old Salem woman and a 33-year-old Lynn man, were shot multiple times inside an apartment at 32 Perkins St. on Jan. 24.
The woman suffered nine wounds and the man, three, but both survived.
Police have said they believe the incident was not random.
It was the first of three shootings in the city this year that police believe involve individuals who were specifically targeted as a result of disputes. One shooting left a 26-year-old Lynn man injured took place behind Brothers Taverna on Derby Street on Valentine's Day, while a 40-year-old Salem man and a 21-year-old Danvers woman were both injured in another at the intersection of Park and Palmer streets.
David "Banga" Avalo, 25, of Hyde Park, was indicted in March in the Valentine's Day shooting.
The shootings, along with a domestic-violence related double stabbing in a Boston Street home and a search off Highland Avenue for a teenager who had used a BB gun to shoot out a van window, led some city councilors to express concerns about a rise in violent crime in the city. But police say that the uptick is not exclusive to Salem and have repeatedly stressed that the crimes are not considered to be random attacks.
Courts reporter Julie Manganis can be reached at 978-338-2521, by email at jmanganis@salemnews.com or on Twitter at @SNJulieManganis.
