An argument that began at the Kells early Sunday morning spilled onto Brighton Avenue, quickly became physical and ended with the stabbing death of Gregory Phillips of West Roxbury, according to the Suffolk County District Attorney's office.
Although the alleged murder remains at large, an alleged accomplice was arraigned this morning in Brighton District Court. Corey Patterson, 23, pleaded innocent to charges of accessory to murder after the fact, several counts of assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon, assault and battery on a police officer and resisting arrest.
Patterson was ordered held in lieu of $200,000 bail, but even if he could raise that would not be allowed out because Judge David Donnelly revoked his bail on an open drug-distribution case out of Dorchester District Court. At his lawyer's request, Patterson only appeared in the doorway to the courtroom, rather than going to the prisoner's dock, which means you won't see him on television tonight.
Assistant District Attorney Paul Treseler said "various groups" left the Kells arguing at the 2 a.m. closing and that their verbal confrontation became physical as they moved closer to Harvard Avenue. Right after Philips was stabbed, once, to the heart, Treseler said, witnesses "heard a metal object hit the ground. That object turned out to be a knife. That knife turned out to have blood on it."
Then, Treseler said, a car drove up to the scene. Patterson got out and picked up the bloody knife.
Treseler said the car, with three other people inside, then took off - and promptly got stuck in a traffic jam, caused in part by responding police cruisers. Patterson, he said, was ordered out of the car and to surrender the knife. But even with officers holding their guns out, he refused, Treseler said. It took three police officers and "a violent struggle" to subdue the punching and kicking Patterson, Treseler said.
Treseler said Patterson has a record dating to 2004, when he was convicted of possession of cocaine. In 2007, he was charged with resisting arrest, assault and battery on a police officer and illegal possession of a firearm. "He is not new to the criminal justice system," Treseler said. "He does have a record of violence.
Patterson's lawyer, Harold Hakala, argued bail should not be set higher than $10,000, because the purpose of bail is to ensure a defendant appears in court and that, while, yes, Patterson has a lengthy record, he is a Massachusetts resident with family here, he's had the same job at a Geneva Avenue oil company for six years and so he is "not a serious risk of flight."
Donnelly, however, set the higher bail in part because the murder investigation is ongoing.