Local rapper among those killed in fatal shooting at child’s birthday party in Carver; fundraiser created

Middleborough, MA – A young local rapper is being remembered after a fatal shooting in Carver on Saturday.

According to Plymouth County District Attorney Tim Cruz, at approximately 7:21 p.m., the Carver Police Department received several 911 calls reporting that multiple people had been shot at 53 Silva Street, the Saint John the Baptist Club, where a child’s birthday party was being held.

Multiple law enforcement agencies responded to the scene and located four victims, two of which were pronounced dead. One victim was identified as Benjamin Cowart, 27, who was pronounced dead at the scene. 20-year-old Jalen Pina of Middleborough was taken to Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital in Plymouth where he succumbed to his injuries. A third victim, a 28-year-old male, was transported to Tufts Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries. Another 32-year-old male victim was taken to South Shore Hospital for treatment. 

While on scene, Carver Police located the suspected shooter, 23-year-old Nicholas Meuse of Plymouth, down the street from the Saint John the Baptist Club. Meuse was arrested on scene and transported to the Carver Police Department. 

All parties reportedly knew each other.

According to a GoFundMe fundraiser, Pina, whose rap name was Buku Tensai, was a beautiful soul who “slowly matured into what was undoubtedly going to be a man of great stature, a man that would take the shirt of his back for you, a man that put family above all, a man that put others before himself. A man of GREATNESS.”

Meuse is scheduled to be arraigned in Wareham District Court on two counts each of Murder and Armed Assault with Intent to Murder, and multiple gun charges. 

The investigation is ongoing by Massachusetts State Police and Carver Police.