Boston, MA
Carjacking suspect killed by Boston officer had lengthy record with more than 17 criminal cases, court filings show – The Boston Globe
O’Malley shot and killed a suspect in a carjacking in March. The swift decision to prosecute has prompted outrage by the police union and law enforcement officials.
O’Malley, 33, has pleaded not guilty to manslaughter for the death of Stephenson King, 39, who was shot March 11 while he allegedly tried to flee a traffic stop in a stolen car. Prosecutors determined that O’Malley had no justification for shooting at a moving vehicle.
“It is disappointing that the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office is choosing to second-guess an officer whose only goal was to protect the public,” O’Malley’s lawyer, David Yannetti, said in an email to the Globe. “We will continue to vigorously defend this officer and this case.”
“The main issue in this case will be who the aggressor really was and whether Officer O’Malley acted in lawful defense,” Yannetti wrote in court filings.
On Wednesday, Yannetti filed several defense motions in the Roxbury division of Boston Municipal Court, in an effort to illustrate “King’s mayhem and reign of terror,” spanning nearly two decades and resulting in more than 17 criminal cases across Massachusetts, court records show.
Over the years, King has been charged with strangulation, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, carjacking, breaking and entering, gun charges, and resisting arrest, according to court filings.
At the time of his death, King was free on bail for at least three separate felony cases, and had active warrants for his arrest, court records said.
O’Malley is seeking King’s mental health, criminal, and court records from all of his past cases, recordings from police body-worn and dash cameras, the medical examiner’s file on King, along with statements taken from O’Malley and witnesses at the scene of the shooting.
O’Malley told investigators that when he shot King he feared for his own life and for the life of another office on the scene, believing his colleague was about to be run over.
Police had pursued King after he allegedly committed a carjacking outside a pizza restaurant in Boston’s Mission Hill neighborhood. About 15 minutes later, officers stopped the stolen car less than a mile away, at Linwood Square in Roxbury.
The driver ignored “multiple verbal commands” as officers approached and tried to drive away, police said.
King opened the car window, but did not turn the vehicle off. O’Malley drew his Taser and shouted, “Bro, I’m going to [expletive] shoot you,” the police report said.
That’s when King backed into the cruiser behind him, then maneuvered the vehicle forward and back “in an attempt to escape the police,” according to the report.
As King started to drive forward again, O’Malley fired three shots through the driver’s window, striking King, the report said.
King’s family has contended that he was experiencing a mental health crisis in the hours leading up to the deadly encounter.
In court filings, O’Malley’s lawyer, Yannetti, said King gave “O’Malley no choice that night.”
“Any suggestion that this shooting was precipitated by simply a ‘mental health crisis’ completely misses the point,” Yannetti wrote. “When facing an extremely dangerous threat, there is no time for a police officer to hold a counseling session on the street or to sit down to discuss the feelings of a menace who is intent on using a motor vehicle as a deadly weapon.”
“If a man is going to assault and carjack an innocent woman then threaten the lives and safety of the public and a police officer, that man needs to be stopped — whether he is in his right mind or not,” according to O’Malley’s motion.
O”Malley’s next court date, a probable-cause hearing, is scheduled for May 21.
Tonya Alanez can be reached at tonya.alanez@globe.com. Follow her @talanez.
So you’re saying there’s a chance? Despite an abysmal start to the 2026 season, the Boston Red Sox remain in the mix for a playoff spot. At least according to FanGraphs, who gives the club a 27.1% chance of reaching the postseason.
Boston’s likely path to October means winning the wild card. FanGraphs gives the Red Sox a 26.1% chance of winning an American League wild card. The team currently sits threes games back of the third and final wild card, despite a record of 25-33.
Don’t look for a division title this year in Beantown. FanGraphs gives the Red Sox a 1% chance of winning the AL East. Which makes sense, since the team currently sits in last place, 11.5 games behind the first-place Tampa Bay Rays.
But SI’s Tom Verducci and Will Laws thinks Boston has a much tougher chance of making the playoffs. In their deep dive of the postseason, the pair came up with what they call the “Line of Doom.” According to their research, a team that starts “no better than 23–31 and your season is almost over only one-third of the way through the schedule.” Here’s why.
“In the wild card era (since 1995), only one team made the postseason starting with less than 22 wins in the first 54 games, the 2005 Astros (20–34). Of the 231 teams to start 23–31 or worse, only seven made the playoffs—once every 33 times,” Verducci and Laws note.
“Since the postseason field expanded in 2022, 31 teams began 23–31 or worse. Only one, the 2024 Mets (22–32), made the playoffs. That leaves such slow starters with a 1 in 31 chance—virtually the same as the larger sample size,” the pair add.
“The fact is one-third of the season does a good job separating pretenders from contenders. And as the calendar flips to June, understand that the playoff spots won’t change very much. In the four seasons with 12 playoff spots up for grabs, teams in playoff position when May ended kept a playoff spot 73% of the time—35 of 48 teams,” Verducci and Laws conclude.
So what does this have to do with the Red Sox, you ask? It’s Boston’s record after 54 games: 23-31. The “Line of Doom.”
More MLB: Red Sox Legend Backs ‘Worried’ John Henry
What should have been a quiet off-day for the Boston Red Sox has devolved into chaos.
Chief baseball officer Craig Breslow was the subject of a profile article in The Boston Globe that didn’t paint a sunny picture of his tenure, including a tough nugget about his relationship with legend Theo Epstein. But Breslow’s harshest critic of the day was probably the father of one of his ex-players.
St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Hunter Dobbins made his second major league appearance on Sunday since being traded from the Red Sox in the deal that brought Willson Contreras to Boston. After Dobbins pitched well and featured his sinker more than expected, his father Lance Dobbins took to social media to excoriate the Red Sox and Breslow.
Lance Dobbins’ latest comments harsher than the first
We covered Lance Dobbins’ initial comments from late Sunday night that seemed to be directed at the Red Sox organization already on Boston Red Sox On SI. But on Monday evening, the elder Dobbins reentered the fray to absolve pitching coach Andrew Bailey of any blame, effectively throwing Breslow under the bus.
When asked if Breslow replacing Chaim Bloom as chief baseball officer led to Hunter throwing less sinkers and fewer four-seam fastballs in the Red Sox organization, Lance responded with this:
Yes! In Bailey’s defense he wanted the addition, but people behind computers make those decisions. The coaching staff is literally working with one hand tied behind their backs. Driveline is the answer to everything, but winning games! Ask yourself, why are so many of our guys…
— Lance Dobbins (@lpdobbins) June 1, 2026
“Yes! In Bailey’s defense he wanted the addition, but people behind computers make those decisions. The coaching staff is literally working with one hand tied behind their backs. Driveline is the answer to everything, but winning games!
“Ask yourself, why are so many of our guys always injured (pitchers and position players), it’s not by pure bad luck. Pitchers are having constant issues and hitters are always hurting hands and wrist. It’s not a league wide problem. It has to be fixed or we’ll never win because half of our starters will always be on the IL.”
That last point has to hit home for the Red Sox because star outfielder Roman Anthony (who debuted in the majors a couple of months after Hunter Dobbins) has now had two long-lasting injuries that occurred on swings — an oblique strain in September that ended his season prematurely, and a partially torn finger ligament that has held him out of action since May 4, with no end in sight.
Monday just wasn’t a good day in the public relations department for the Red Sox front office, or for Breslow in particular. But it’s worth noting that Dobbins has only made two appearances in a Cardinals uniform, allowing four earned runs in eight innings, taking a loss and earning a save.
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