Accused drug dealer charged in murder of 13-year-old Norwood boy to face a judge

BOSTON — An accused drug dealer charged with the fatal daytime shooting of 13-year-old Tyler Lawrence last month will face a judge Friday.

Csean Skerritt, 34, is slated to be arraigned in Dorchester District Court on a charge of murder in the boy’s death, according to the Suffolk District Attorney’s Office.

Lawrence, a Norwood resident, was shot and killed just before noon on Sunday, Jan. 29, near 119 Babson St. in Mattapan. He was staying at his grandparent’s house when he was killed.

Responding officers found the teenage boy at the shooting scene suffering from multiple gunshot wounds.

Lawrence lived in Norwood and attended Coakley Middle School in Norwood.

Hundreds showed up for a celebration of life honoring Lawrence back on Feb. 6. The line wrapped around the parking lot and down the sidewalk at Norwood’s Rama Center.

“I never in my wildest dreams knew that Tyler touched so many people,” said Tyler’s grandfather, Stanley Lawrence. “I wish everybody could’ve been able to come inside. The amount of people who came. I’ll never forget this in my life.”

Stanley said the family continues to deal with the raw emotions of the tragedy without knowing who murdered the young boy or why.

“The outpouring of love for my grandson is what is holding us together as a family right now,” he said.

The crowd who lined up to show their sympathy to Tyler’s family included classmates, parents, neighbors, and local leaders.

“We should all be outraged because it’s not normal. We can’t normalize this,” said Massachusetts State Senator Liz Miranda.

The boy’s family “has shown extraordinary courage and strength during this time of loss,” said District Attorney Kevin Hayden, who attended Tyler’s memorial.

In a statement, Rev. Kevin Peterson, founder of the New Democracy Coalition, said that Lawrence had been “gunned down in a brazen targeted attack.”

“Moments after his murder I stood watching his lifeless body on the ground on an otherwise quiet Sunday morning. I cried,” Peterson said. “Tyler Lawrence’s life was snatched away within the boundaries of what many in the black neighborhoods call a triangle of death. Mattapan and Dorchester are where the majority of murders take place, and we continue to demand that law enforcement devise specific strategies that speak to the unprecedented amount of homicide that pertains to the city’s Black community.”

City leaders and the community are “morally obligated to respond to” violent crime in Boston neighborhoods “in ways that treat this violence like an and epidemic and an emergency,” Peterson added.

Skerrett was arrested earlier this month and charged with one count of distribution of 40 grams or more of fentanyl. He was later hit with the murder charge after investigators gathered additional evidence.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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