At-large City Councilor Julia Mejia is facing some questions about her conduct at a murder scene outside her home in Dorchester, where her neighbor was allegedly shot and killed while in his car.
Brandon Williams was murdered at point-blank range by a shooter on Thursday evening in a car in front of his home, which apparently is next door to Councilor Mejia’s home.
Media reports, especially from LiveBoston617 reported that a live stream had been posted directly after the shooting and the person posting it had gone into the crime scene and very close to the car, but never appeared to call police and refused to cooperate with officers at the scene.
That video has apparently been taken down and no longer available, but Councilor Mejia did say on a video post Monday that she was sorry for posting the graphic Facebook Live post. She said she had apologized to the family for it, but also said the conversation shouldn’t be about her response, but rather the realities of violence many in Boston face routinely.
“This conversation needs to be about the realities of what people live every day in the City of Boston,” she said in the video. “I’m sending my sincere condolences to the family on Evans Street for the murder that happened last week and ground this conversation in what it should have always been – the family that lost a son, father, sibling and friend. That’s what the conversation should be about and I want to re-center it…
“I also want to apologize to those that were exposed to a Facebook Live that I shared when I learned what was happening outside my door,” she continued. “I responded first as a mother, as a neighbor and wasn’t thinking about being a city councilor. I responded in a way that if I had to do it again, I wouldn’t do it…I also know the impact on those that were exposed to it. I apologize for that. I reached out to the family and apologized for the hurt that it caused.”
On Feb. 5, Councilor Mejia participated in a Boston Globe story about the incident, but did not say anything about a Facebook Live post she had made, or about whether or not she cooperated with police at the scene.
Some family members of the victim, Brandon Williams, responded to the video post by saying they were disappointed with Councilor Mejia’s conduct both during and after the incident.
Mejia said, again, it is important to shed light on the realities of gun violence in some neighborhoods of the City, including her own.
A spokesperson for Councilor Mejia did not return an inquiry from this newspaper with a comment on the matter.