Taunton man arraigned on murder charges concerning stabbing from drug transaction

A Taunton man was arraigned Tuesday on a charge of fatally stabbing 40-year-old Jamal Chin-Clarke during a suspected drug transaction in the area of Massachusetts Avenue and Melnea Cass Boulevard earlier this year, Suffolk County District Attorney Rachael Rollins said.

Liquarry Jefferson, 41, of Taunton was ordered held without bail during his arraignment today on a charge of murder in the Roxbury Division of the Boston Municipal Court. He is currently being held for an unrelated violation of his probation on a 2015 conviction for armed robbery and three counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon for which he was sentenced to five to seven years in prison followed by a period of probation.

“This arrest is the result of an exhaustive investigation by Boston Police homicide detectives and my Office’s Homicide Unit. I’m grateful for their meticulous work on this investigation and their dedicated efforts to get accountability for Mr. Chin-Clarke’s family, ” District Attorney Rollins said. “This homicide started as a suspected drug transaction. We desperately need a concerted response from elected officials at the State, County and City level for the crisis growing throughout the Massachusetts Avenue and Melnea Cass area. This small section of Boston continues to disproportionately absorb the devastating impacts of substance use and mental health disorders for our entire Commonwealth and beyond.”

Assistant District Attorney David McGowan told the court that surveillance camera footage captured the victim and a second individual walking on foot to a Southampton Street parking lot on the morning of February 27, 2021. Approximately 20 minutes later, a vehicle driven by an individual later identified as Jefferson arrived at the location. Jefferson, the victim and the second individual are seen on camera in what is believed to be a hand-to-hand drug transaction. During the interaction, Jefferson allegedly punched the victim in the face, knocked the second individual to the ground, and stabbed the victim in the chest and torso. Jefferson then returned to his vehicle and drove away.

Chin-Clarke walked toward the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue and Melnea Cass Boulevard, where he collapsed in the street. He was transported to Boston Medical Center, where he died of his injuries.

Multiple security and public safety cameras captured Jefferson’s path as he traveled from the murder scene. Boston Police detectives identified the vehicle as being registered to a woman residing at the same Taunton residence as Jefferson. Additional police reports indicate that Jefferson used the vehicle on other occasions, including during a suspected hit-and-run causing property damage in the area of Southampton Street seven days after the murder.

In addition to the footage, cell site location information obtained through a search warrant places Mr. Jefferson in the area of the stabbing at approximately the same time it occurred, prosecutors said.