Boston Police have identified the woman killed in a rental linked by family to U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-MA.
Yoseliani Ann Marte Ocasio, 18, of Boston, is the young woman found shot dead on July 18 inside the Mattapan property owned by Pressley’s husband Conan Harris, cops said Thursday.
Homicide detectives are now leading the investigation, reports MassDailyNews.com.
The seven-bedroom Malta Street home in Boston’s Mattapan neighborhood is owned by Conan Harris, who married Pressley in 2014.
“It was a life that was lost and our community is in mourning,” Harris told WCVB-TV. “And the more that we make it about her, it gives support to the family, the better off we’re doing as a society.”
The victim’s grandmother told WCVB that her granddaughter’s death was a result of domestic violence.
The property where Ocasio was found the victim of a single bullet wound to the head has in the past been listed as the address of Harris’s business, according to Hugh Cameron of Newsweek.
Police went to 25 Malta Street after a walk-in report July 18 that a person had been shot at the property.
Shortly before 2 p.m. that day, two officers conducted a sweep of the house and found the victim in the rear bedroom of the property’s second apartment.
Pressley has represented Massachusetts’ 7th Congressional District since 2019 after defeating longtime Democratic Congressman Michael Capuano in a surprise primary victory. Before serving in Congress, she was elected to the Boston City Council, becoming the first woman of color elected citywide in Boston.
Harris works as a consultant and activist, and is founder of the firm Conan Harris & Associates, which according to its website specializes in “executive coaching, strategic planning, capacity building, and helping businesses and organizations diversify their pipeline of workforce leadership and personnel.”
Harris is a native of Dorchester, and married Pressley on May 25, 2014 at the African Meeting House in Boston’s Beacon Hill neighborhood, according to a report in the Dorchester Reporter.
Harris served 10 years in prison on drug trafficking charges, and has since campaigned for criminal justice reform and worked to help formerly incarcerated people reintegrate into society.
He testified about his experiences before the House Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security in February 2020.
Anyone with information into the killing is urged to call detectives at 617-343-4470.
