Murder Charges For 16-Year-Old Accused of Stabbing, Killing 15-Year-Old

Boston, MA - A fatal stabbing of one juvenile by another merits second-degree murder charges, a Suffolk County Grand Jury determined Wednesday afternoon.

The indictments charge 16-year-old Amari Pope, of Dorchester, with second-degree murder and misleading a police investigator - charges that supersede the ones forwarded in the original Dorchester Municipal Court complaint against Pope earlier this year.

The victim, Deon Hopkins of Dorchester, was found at approximately 4:30 p.m. near the corner of Columbia Road and Devon Street, police said. He was taken to Boston Medical Center, where he died of a stab wound to the chest.

According to the Suffolk County District Attorney's office, Pope allegedly saw the victim approaching, retrieved a knife and then followed and stabbed him. After the stabbing, Pope allegedly destroyed and hid evidence, including the knife.

Hopkins was just a few weeks away from his 16th birthday at the time, according to the DA's office.

Pope will be arraigned on the Grand Jury indictments in Suffolk Superior Court on July 19.

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