Boston Police tonight are painting a different picture of the conditions inside an apartment at 381 Old Colony Ave. in which they found a dead body Saturday morning than the one that had percolated in the local media and prompted condemnations by, among others, City Councilors Ed Flynn and Michael Flaherty.
Information that drugs and other concerning materials were strewn about the home is not supported by what officers encountered or by the information received on scene.
Police say officers responded to the apartment shortly after 11 a.m. after being called by adults there when they realized a friend had stopped breathing. The people who called were "fully cooperative" with the officers, police say.
There were four children on site who all had a parent present in the residence. The parents and the officers who responded felt it was best for the children to stay in another room with one of the parents and took steps to avoid having the children see the deceased. Due to the nature of the call, and to ensure appropriate follow up with the families involved, officers did file a 51A with DCF.
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Comments
Erin Murphy
By Max H
Fri, 06/23/2023 - 8:56am
Don't leave Erin Murphy out. She went on tv spreading lies about what happened there as part of her future mayoral campaign.
Who do you believe?
By Dos Santos
Fri, 06/23/2023 - 9:01am
Who do you believe?
Firefighters?
Police officers?
?????
I believe firefighters every
By Anonymous
Fri, 06/23/2023 - 8:37pm
I believe firefighters every time !!
DCF has taken all four kids away from their parents.
By Jiggles
Fri, 06/23/2023 - 10:09am
This is not a boat accident.
I fail to see what can be gained by minimizing the trauma of these poor children. Kids don’t get removed from a home just because an adult has an accidental death inside. There must be serious concerns regarding abuse and/or neglect in order for DCF to take this action.
spreading lies doesn't protect children
By cinnamngrl
Fri, 06/23/2023 - 12:05pm
You are absolutely right that these children were at risk and need the protection of the state. Trans people are people. They have addictions and make mistakes. Telling the truth is not minimization.
I fail to see why any of this is news
By BostonDog
Fri, 06/23/2023 - 12:30pm
The original BFD report was for shock value only. This is not a story the public needs to know. There's no indication anyone else at the apartment complex was at risk. It sounds like everyone followed correct procedure. (As in DCF was alerted and responded accordingly.)
This is a matter for DCF and possibly the police/DA if there's evidence of a crime. It need not be fodder for speculation or click bait type stories. Politicians don't need to weigh in.
I don't know, it sounds like
By NoMoreBanks
Thu, 06/29/2023 - 10:23am
I don't know, it sounds like there are safeguarding lapses in the public housing system. Things don't get so bad that kids are taken from their parents at the first report unless they are BAD. Things don't get that BAD without other people having some knowledge of it, especially in tight quarters like public housing. What happened to see-something, say-something? Was anyone involve in BPH aware of this?
That is a matter for public concern.
Not accurate
By Transphobia Watch
Sun, 06/25/2023 - 10:00am
An emergency removal means one DCF worker (not a forensic investigator, not a licensed clinician, not a team of professionals who know the family and work with them regularly in the community, not a judge) decided to walk out with someone's children and ask a judge to approve it a few days later.
The hearing for an emergency removal is one sided, and the parent is not permitted to provide evidence. Even so, 25% of them are sent right home at that hearing because the judges don't find reason to keep them even in the one-sided hearing where judges take the word of that DCF worker as fact.
When families are able to get attorneys to appeal DCF actions (either privately hired or some of the very few who do pro bono for 51B appeals), around 50% of abuse/neglect findings that are appealed are overturned. BTW, the DCF appeals are heard by a "hearing officer" who is an employee of DCF, yet still finds around 50% of them to be embarrassingly ridiculous. In the instances in which families are able to get representation and appeal these in court, they're overwhelmingly overturned (see Gilbert v. DCF https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=83319...).
Wondering
By plt3012
Fri, 06/23/2023 - 11:59am
Over the years I've read numerous posts knocking the police on Uhub. It's a very strong and constant theme here.
Now all of a sudden, the police are the ones who are used to back up what is looking like a cover up.
I doubt that the fire captain made up his report. Something very wrong was going on in that apartment. Children were present. If you ever seen the inside of one of these units, you'd know they're not that big. Those kids are victims of abuse. How much abuse is the question. The local media has done their best to either under report this or ignore it all together.
Which is worse?
By cinnamngrl
Fri, 06/23/2023 - 12:12pm
Is the fire captain lying or making biased assumptions? The fire captain did not investigate the incident.
Turtle Boy, Again!
By plt3012
Fri, 06/23/2023 - 12:42pm
https://tbdailynews.com/boston-police-accuse-bfd-c...
Trust TB as far as you can throw him
By tachometer
Fri, 06/23/2023 - 2:33pm
Turtleboy is worse than a JAQ-off (Just Asking Questions) because he actually takes the absence of evidence and fits his own in there to build a story. It's sad that so many people eat his shit up because his game plan is so obvious.
Here's examples from your link, but the O'Keefe one is chock full of them too.
The police tweet says that it is "not supported" that there were drugs or sex toys "strewn about" and then TB posits that the cops' claim is that "There were no drugs or sex toys found in the apartment."
Those are two completely different statements. It is entirely possible for there to be drugs in the apartment, for someone to do them and for someone to die from doing them without them being "strewn about" the apartment. The deceased could have just as easily cut a couple of lines in the bathroom out of sight of the kids, put the remainder of the packet in his pocket, and then snorted it thinking it was coke and he died a bit later because it was cut with fentanyl.
Despite the analogy TB tries to draw, the police statement also does not state that the victim "died in his sleep" or that it was cardiac arrest, but he lays his argument out so that many readers will infer that it does.
As far as why they would file a 51A, even with zero drugs or sex toys present which is the level that TB seems to think is needed to warrant it, there are many reasons. If the apartment was filthy, if the kids didn't appear to have adequate clothing or otherwise appeared as though they were neglected or abused then as mandatory reporters any cop or fireman on the scene would be required by law to ensure there was a call to DCF and a 51A filed.
Seriously. Take a step back and look at what TB writes with a critical eye. He spouts unsupported shit and people are taking it as though he is an investigative journalist with an unblemished track record.
The talk about drugs, toys
By Whosupportswho
Fri, 06/23/2023 - 3:19pm
The talk about drugs, toys and a party is per the firefighters which had first entry into the apartment. It was not made up out of thin air.
Just adding some clarification
By Transphobia Watch
Sun, 06/25/2023 - 10:19am
The MA mandated reporter statute (chap 119 sec 51A) requires that mandated reporters file if they have knowledge that a child is experiencing abuse or neglect - generally defined by the feds and caselaw as action or inaction by a caregiver that has resulted or could likely result in severe lifelong harm.
DCF will take 51A reports on absolutely anything, including the frequently reported "just want to make sure the family follows up" from ERs and first responders who aren't even alleging any harm to the child. Mandated and non-mandated reporters are permitted to file any report other than "knowingly and willfully files a frivolous report." Most reports that are made are not substantiated for abuse or neglect even in MA which has a high reversal rate when families appeal decisions.
Insurers and attorneys for agencies tend to spread the false belief that mandated reporters are required to report all concerns, all red flags, and essentially are to use DCF as a sort of 311 for families who might need anything. This isn't in fact what the law requires, and overreporting does harm to the families who are investigated due largely to race and class, as well as the children suffering actual severe abuse who are harder to locate when DCF gets 90,000 reports per year, most of which are "just want to make sure the family follows up."
My current job in a community program makes me a mandated reporter. We are unique though in that we follow a liberation health and social justice model, and we get our mandated reporter training from ACLU-type attorneys rather than insurance-company-type attorneys. It is very much within the law to do what we do, which is to point families to resources if they are lacking clothing/food/shelter, not report them.
Another dubious claim. He
By cinnamngrl
Fri, 06/23/2023 - 5:26pm
Another dubious claim. He posts BPS reports that are redacted and dispute his accusations. Then he posted some kind of typed folded memo that supposedly comes from the fire captain.
You mean
By Brian Riccio
Fri, 06/23/2023 - 6:34pm
my bitch Turtleboy? No one owns that piece of shit like I do.
How?
By Jiggles
Sun, 06/25/2023 - 1:26pm
What have you done to own turtleboy?
Exactly. Almost every media
By Anonymous
Fri, 06/23/2023 - 8:48pm
Exactly. Almost every media outlet & website in this country has been knocking the police for years. Now, people are shocked that we are all more likely to believe a firefighter over a police officer. I also think some of the people in this comment section don’t realize BFD almost always shows up to these calls before the police get there.
Adam, I'd love to say that
By Dan Kennedy
Fri, 06/23/2023 - 5:31pm
Adam, I'd love to say that Howie Carr wrote a disgraceful column today, but he was only going with what we all thought we knew. Any insight into how such a false narrative got out there?
Oh for Christ’s sake
By Brian Riccio
Fri, 06/23/2023 - 6:37pm
Why not ask the racist Carr himself? You know, grow a pair? Could you be any more useless of a maggot on the body of journalism who got his start working for a pimp like Mindich?
Did they also mention that
By Rwgfy
Fri, 06/23/2023 - 7:55pm
Did they also mention that some left turns on red are not concerning?
This is the opposite of the Jussie Smollett case
By StillFromDorchester
Sat, 06/24/2023 - 4:39pm
Some of the press knew his claim was fake but covered it like it happened, this case seems like some of the press knows something bad happened but they are covering it as if it was a simple heart attack.
My two cents.
my opinion of possible order of events:
By schneidz
Mon, 06/26/2023 - 8:23am
trying to make sense of sumthing that makes no sense:
this is the most positive timeline likely... the other real possibility is that the yung kids were used and molested during the adult party. not investigating this very real and dangerous possibility seems irresponsible.
Probably not even that
By Transphobia Watch
Wed, 06/28/2023 - 10:40am
As someone who routinely experiences transphobia and supports fellow trans folks at work, my experiences are making me think probably not.
I've explained this a few times, but Adam doesn't usually let my comments through.
There is definite transphobic bias here. The firefighters referred to people who "appeared to be men" rather than asking them their gender/pronouns and respecting what was shared. First responders absolutely never qualify their gendering of people, so this was the first transphobic dog whistle i.e. "you say you're male but I'm a transphobe so you aren't."
Transphobic folks will often refer to things like wigs, breast forms, binders, tucking garments, pride swag, preschool picture books on gender topics as "sex items."
I think it's more likely some trans people were socializing without anything sexual occurring.
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