Working man gunned down at Good Times

By George P. Hassett

Ferdinand Saintville, 25, had been anticipating his violent end. His girlfriend, Dianesse Berberena, said Saintville was preparing to die ever since he was shot one year ago.

  “He used to tell me what he wanted to happen if he died. He was making plans. He knew he was going to die soon,” she said.

After leaving the Good Time Emporium just before 1:30 a.m. on Saturday, Saintville, of Everett, was shot for the second and last time.

Prior to the single shot that ended his life, a red van stopped short in front of Saintville and his friends at the corner of Alfred Lombardi Way and Mystic Avenue, police said. Saintville and his friends were in their own vehicle and pulled up next to the van with its windows already open and a loaded gun inside.

  According to police, words were exchanged between both parties. Then came the shot.  Saintville’s friend told police it came from the van. The bullet hit Saintville just below his left armpit.

Police arrested Marquis Williams, 20, of Randolph, in connection with the shooting. He is not believed to have pulled the trigger.

Williams was arraigned on the charge of accessory to murder on Monday from behind a wall because of identification issues, prosecutors said. He entered a plea of not guilty and was held without bail. Berberena, Saintville’s girlfriend of three years, watched the proceedings with tears in her eyes. “He was a good, hard working man,” she said of her late boyfriend.  Berberena said Saintville had been a positive role model for her by holding down a steady fulltime job at Valvoline Instant Oil Change in Watertown  and caring for his 7 year old son.

“I was a lost cause when I met him. I thought hanging out and being in the streets was all there was to life. But he lifted me up and showed me how much more there was to living,” she said.

Saintville, who grew up in the Jefferson Park apartments in Cambridge, had never been in serious trouble, she said. He dreamed of earning enough money to buy a home, a car and lead a quiet, average life, she said.
However, she said Saintville had become convinced he would die young after being shot last year.“He would talk like he was making plans to die, he knew he was going to go,” she said.    

The day he did die, the verbal argument  and gunfire was allegedly witnessed by a cab driver who followed the red van into Charlestown and saw it pull onto Moulton Street.  The cab driver flagged down a Boston police officer and told her what he witnessed, police said.

Boston police allegedly located the van on Moulton Street, with Williams sitting in the drivers seat. A spent shell casing was found in Williams’ van, according to prosecutors.
After being booked and read his Miranda rights, police said Williams gave inconsistent statements about his activities on Friday night and early Saturday morning. He both denied and admitted having been in Somerville, police said. At one point Williams admitted being involved in an altercation at a traffic light and hearing gunshots, but he then told police he did not know where the shots had come from, according to the report. Williams said he did not know one of his passengers and could not recall the name of the other, according to local authorities.

Police said Williams and his van were positively identified by Saintville’s friend as being involved in the shooting. The case is still under investigation.

Comments

[Nancy]

You are missed my love!

[Nancy]

You are missed my love!

[consuelo]

BIRD YOU WILL BE MISSED. R.I.P

[ryan]

This is a tragedy no doubt, but why continue to villify Good Time Emporium. The headline itself is a lie...he was not gunned down at Good Time emporium. That part is completely irrelevant to the story. I hope the owners are sticking up for themselves...

[Dee]

miss u so much it hurts.

[a good friend]

i'll never forget u burdd, u were the man!!!!

[Rzabala001]

This is exactly why we need a neighborhood crime watch in Somerville. Has everyone already forgotten about the disabled girl who was molested by MS13 gang members? I wonder what Deanna Crimmins mother would think about a crime watch helping the Somerville PD? A program like that might have helped at least gain some information about that young girls murder. Kudos to Bill Tauro for proposing a Crime Watch and a big thumbs up for the local businesses who offered to step up and provide funding.
I'm not imagining that the latest story in the Somerville News, posted today is an actual warning to all women in Somerville am I?

[somerville citezen]

To Mr. Touro I think a neighbourhood crime watch here in Somerville is not only a good idea but also a great idea to keep businesses and residents here in the city. Recently I've spoken to many neighbours who have sold their homes because they felt it was no longer safe to raise a family in Somerville. Businesses have even left rather than face repeated robberies and intimidation. I hope this proposal will go through the local beauracracy because we all know this is a different Somerville than we all grew up in. I remember when families and neighbours used to hang out on their front porches and every one knew each other. Sadly that's very much a thing of the past. We need to get a grip on this crime before we become the nest highest crime area behind the city of Boston!

[friend of deanna]

Rzabalaooz - although I thank you for remembering Deanna, her last name is spelled Cremin.

And you're right, a neighborhood watch is a great idea. I remember growing up in Somerville we didnt need neighborhood watch. We all watched our own neighborhoods. Unfortunately with the new face of Somerville has come the riddance of the feeling that we were safe in our neighborhoods because we all watched out for each other. It's hard to watch out for your neighbors if you have never even spoken to them or know what kind of cars they drive.

[Somerville dweller]

What's with this "new face of Somerville" crap? I bought and moved into Somerville about seven years ago and I have wonderful neighbors. People tend not to make friends with their neighbors because they are renters mostly. Blame the original dwellers for selling out to the contractors who condoized their homes.

And speak to your neighbors, cause they are your nearest help when a 911 call takes at least 15 minutes response. 2 minutes can save a life, 15 can destroy it.

[Ron Newman]

Neighborhood Watch is a great idea, but it could not have deterred or prevented this particular crime. Good Time is an isolated establishment far from any actual neighborhood. With the Loews cinema shuttered, and the nearby strip-mall stores closing around 9pm, there's nobody left in the area around Good Time who can see any trouble that develops there.

[Point of Information...]

Just a point of information.....people on this site and others continually refer to people who 'sold out' to developers to make a quick buck. Keep in mind that there are many people, especially those on fixed incomes, who have been forced to 'sell out' because they were unable to pay the ever-increasing taxes caused by the ever-increasing value on their home. Remember, when they tell you that improvements in the city of somerville will raise your property's value, they are being disingenous, because until you sell the property, a raise in value does nothing more than cost you more $ in taxes!

[Kate]

Somerville dweller - "new face of Somerville" is correct

'friend of Deanna' is right on, with that statement. Many people on my street are in the U.S. illegally, and they have no vested interest in what goes on here. Many of them are here strictly to make money and then return to their country of origin. So, they're ulikely to call the police, unless something is happening against themselves, because they fear being found-out. Good for you, that you have wonderful neighbors; we can't all say that.

I've been a renter at the same property for 10 years, and my neighbor, 2 doors away, finally, and for the first time, made eye contact and a comment, during that late-March snow/rain storm. 10 years! That's longer than several of the homeOWNERS on my street. Some people are just naturally unfriendly or have other reasons for keeping to themselves.

Original dwellers have every right to sell to whomever they want to.

[Somerville Resident]

I think everyone is entitled to their own opinions. Everybody is right but, what are you contributing to the bettering of Somerville. I have been in Somerville for about 6 years and yes, it has changed a lot. Why is there between 10 and 15 teenagers, no older than probably 15 or 16 and some of them actually look 12, roaming the streets of Somerville at 1 o'clock in the morning, and the authorities are not doing anything about it, while they are smoking cigarettes and weed and drinking in the middle of the streets? Where are the parents of these kids? What about some of you, are you parents? If so what are you doing about it?
Just the other day, I was getting home from work, and as I was pulling into my driveway, two young girls walking past me. One of them, with a marker on her hands wrote "Fuck Me" (and I apologize for the use of the language), on a mailbox on the street. I turned around and asked her, why would you write that? her response was "That's what I am looking for". So sad! Once again, where are the parents?
I guess the authorities are not doing much either. Get these little kids off the streets after 9:00pm. It is very scary situation.

[vanman]

I read all this and also shocked as you... I feel sorry for children, they can't choose their parents and conditions in which they are grown up, but sometimes they have to suffer and feel bad results of their parents mistakes

[lookin @ you]

"Im in heavin shining down and wishing that i had made it here a long time ago" Those who choose to kill your judgement day will come!! You will not make it to where i am!! Thank you