Walter Hendrick has "terrible remorse" over shooting death of 12-year-old brother in Boston, lawyer says
BOSTON - A Roxbury man already facing gun charges in the shooting death of his 12-year-old brother earlier this year was arraigned on a new manslaughter charge Thursday.
Walter Hendrick, 22, stood behind a door at his arraignment on the upgraded charges in Suffolk Superior Court as his mother and family sat in the courtroom.
Hendrick was indicted by a grand jury this week on six charges, including manslaughter. He was previously charged with unlawful possession of a firearm.
Prosecutors said Hendrick's younger brother, 12-year-old Savion Ellis, was found in a home on Fessenden Street in Mattapan in July with a gunshot wound that went through his heart. They said a shell casing was found in the living room and a gun was found in the basement with Hendrick's fingerprint on the trigger, along with a large-capacity magazine.
According to prosecutors, Hendrick initially told police Savion had been shot at a store. His defense attorney called the shooting a "tragic accident."
"He is crushed by the death of his 12-year-old brother," said defense attorney Susan Neff. "He would anything to make it not so and that if he could trade his own life for his brother's, he would. That this was an accident and he has terrible, terrible remorse over."
Hendrick pleaded not guilty to the new charges and was ordered held on $250,000 cash bail. He's due back in court October 24.
