The Un-Murder of DeAndre Scott – and the Prosecution of Christopher Burns

DeAndre Scott FHS yearbook photo.
The obituary posted by the Ginley Funeral Home on October 29, 2020 was brief but poignant:

DeAndre Ackeem [also sometimes recorded as Akeem] Scott, age 26, tragically passed away on Thursday October 29, 2020 in Franklin Massachusetts. He was born on August 31, 1994 in Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, the son of Carline Scott. DeAndre was a 2012 graduate of Franklin High School, and also attended Dean College. He had worked as a union carpenter.

Dre’ lived his life to the fullest. He expressed himself through music, chatting, joking with friends and family, sending silly Instagram videos, Snapchat, and spending quality time with his daughter Remi, and little brother Aj.

He also enjoyed hanging with his cousins, Jr, Dj, and close friends Brett and Rj.
Dre’ had an uncanny ability to reach people in a deep passionate way. He is survived by his mother Carline Scott, daughter Remi Rose Scott, and his unborn child.

He is also survived by his grandmother Carol Thomas, Aunts Donnette, Keisha, Annetia, Melody, and many cousins and friends.

Not mentioned, was the cause of death, a gunshot to the chest, or that he had been declared dead only hours earlier, at 1:50 that same morning at Milford Regional Medical Center.

At the time, Franklin Police were quoted as stating that Scott’s killing was the first murder to occur in Franklin in more than 20 years, a grim distinction, and one that would be revisited and revised in 2021 with the murder of Shirley Owen on Dec. 17 of that year.

The shooting of Scott had occurred at an address just off of Wachusett Street and was the result of some kind of encounter between Scott and another individual, Marcus Thibodeau who, according to published reports, was living at the address, an address where Scott had lived previously.

But it wasn’t until Dec. 23 that Thibodeau was indicted on charges related to the incident; carrying a gun; possession of ammunition; and two counts of misleading police --not, notably, for murder.

While the slow wheels of justice turned in his case, almost a whole year passed.

Then, in another horrifying turn of events, in the early morning hours of December 8th 2021 Worcester Police officers were called to the scene of a shooting on Grafton Street involving two individuals, both of whom died. One was Marcus Thibodeau and the other was his brother, James Johnson.

At that time, there were no known suspects, motives, or arrests. The deaths of all three men, Scott, Thibodeau, and Johnson were unsolved.

But in the case of Thibodeau and Johnson, that finally changed in April of 2022 when Worcester police arrested Christopher Burns, a 37-year-old resident of the city, in connection with the twin December murders. He was charged with two counts of murder, unlawful carrying of a loaded firearm, unlawful carrying of a firearm, and being an armed career criminal level 2, according to the Worcester Telegram.

On Wednesday, Feb. 8, according to Office of Worcester County District Attorney Joseph D. Early, Jr., Burns will appear in Worcester Superior Court for a hearing, leading eventually, most likely, to a trial at a later date.  Justice may yet come for Thibodeau and Johnson.

And what of the death
of Scott, an event that is pointedly no longer referred to as a murder by law enforcement? A spokesperson for the Norfolk District Attorney, explained that there had always been ambiguity and unknowns surrounding the events of Oct 29, 2020 and, investigators eventually concluded that the shooting was likely self-defense, a form of homicide distinct from murder. So that word is no longer used by officials in regard to Scott’s demise (again, also resetting the official murder tally in Franklin). But since the facts, such as they are, will never be brought out in a trial, it appears we will never really know all the details about the death of this particular Franklin High School grad. And justice always seems likely to be a missing element in the story.

EDITOR’S NOTE: We did make multiple attempts to contact Scott’s mother and individuals identified as his friends online, but none responded. His death drew much less attention at the time, than the dramatic, daylight catastrophe of Dec. 2021. And almost none since.