Canton man convicted in killing of 15-year-old in Dorchester

Zontre Mack was found guilty by a jury of first-degree murder in the 2022 fatal shooting.

A 21-year-old Canton man was found guilty of murder on Monday in the 2022 fatal shooting of a 15-year-old boy in Dorchester, authorities announced.

The Suffolk County jury found Zontre Mack guilty of first-degree murder in the death of 15-year-old Curtis Ashford Jr., the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office said in a statement.

Mack is one of two men charged in connection with the July 27, 2022 shooting. Dominic Gavin, 27, of Boston, previously pleaded guilty to one count of accessory after the fact and was sentenced to three to four years in state prison.

Prosecutors said surveillance video and witness accounts captured Mack and Gavin arriving in the area of Ellington Street around 7:30 p.m. on the night of the shooting in a car that was driven by Gavin. Authorities said Mack, who was 18 at the time, got out of the car and fired several gunshots at a group of people gathered on the street. The group, which included Ashford, fled at the sound of the shots, and the 15-year-old was struck while trying to get away.

The car was located by investigators and Mack’s DNA and fingerprints were found inside, prosecutors said.

“Losing someone so young to violence is a blow to the entire city,” Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden said in a statement following Monday’s verdict. “Every person who cares about the health of our neighborhoods and the safety of our young people—and that should be all of us—should be shocked, saddened and motivated to make things better. But nowhere is Curtis’s loss felt more profoundly than by his family and friends, and they will always have our sympathy and our support.”

Mack will return to court for sentencing on Oct. 23.