Roxbury man stands trial for 2nd-degree murder of teen dragged by car in 2018

A Roxbury man is on trial after he allegedly “dragged” a teen by his car, leading to the victim’s death, after an iPhone sale gone bad in 2018. “Nov. 16, 2018, was an unthinkable day for Kemoni Miller,” said Suffolk ADA Alexandra Rahimi. “The unimaginable happened when the defendant, Kenneth Ford, dragged him down Gallivan Boulevard at a high rate of speed. He hung from the outside of the vehicle, fell from that car, and he died. In the simplest terms, this is a robbery gone wrong.” Ford, 30, of Roxbury, was charged with second-degree murder in relation to the death of Kemoni Miller, 18, in 2018 and returned to Suffolk Superior Court on Thursday for the start of his trial nearly seven years later. In opening statements, Rahimi alleged “the defendant knew Miller was outside of the vehicle” and drove off at a high rate of speed — allegedly about 45 mph in a 30 mph speed zone — for just under half a mile with that knowledge. Miller fell from the car around the intersection Gallivan Boulevard and Washington Street in Dorchester and sustained multiple skull fractures, prosecutors said. He died four days later from blunt force trauma injuries. Defense attorney Joseph Krowski called the prosecutor’s statement a “half-baked, cherry-picked presentation of what took place on that day,” criticizing the use of a key “bought-and-paid-for witness” involved in the incident, Dejon Barnes. Prosecutors originally sought murder charges against both Ford and Barnes, who was allegedly in the passenger seat, but the witness cooperated with the DA’s office in Ford’s case and pleaded guilty to unarmed robbery in 2019. Barnes’s sentencing has been postponed until after Ford’s trial. “What did Dejon Barnes get for setting up this deal, for bringing the counterfeit money, for prying the fingers off for Kemoni Miller?” Krowski said to the jury Thursday. “He got a deal. He got time served. He is now a cooperating witness. It is true that you decide credibility, but in this regard, he is on different footing than other witnesses.” Prosecutors allege Miller was looking to sell an iPhone and got in contact with Barnes through his then-girlfriend to arrange a location for the sale. Barnes asked Ford for a ride to 322 Gallivan Blvd., the ADA said. On the way, Rahimi said, the two men “hatched a plan” to pay Miller partially in counterfeit money to increase the resale profit. Krowski claimed that Miller’s girlfriend ran a “cell phone scam” with Barnes, and “all (Ford) was doing was giving a ride.” At the sale location, Miller approached the car, and Barnes partially rolled down the passenger-side window. There were “four or five people in the area of the car,” Krowski claimed, including one armed with a knife that witnesses allegedly likened to a sword or machete. Barnes and Miller start going back and forth over “the phone, the condition, the price that will be paid,” Rahimi said. It’s then that Ford allegedly starts driving. “Everything was fine until it wasn’t,” Rahimi said. “The car took off at a high rate of speed, drove just shy of half of a mile. Kemoni hanging from the outside of the car on the window. The defendant blew through a red light. He was weaving in and out of traffic.” Krowski described his client as “nervous” and said it was only as Miller “breaches into the car” that Ford pulls off to “get away from a potential problem.” “What you didn’t hear in their opening statement, and you’re going to hear from their bought-and-paid-for witness, Dejon Barnes, is when Mr. Ford starts to pull away, Kemoni Miller doesn’t let the car pull off,” said Krowski. “He has a very easy choice. He jumps onto the car and is holding on to the window.” One of Miller’s friends at the scene, Krowski alleged, would later say, “Why didn’t he just let go? He could have let go.” A prosecution witness said he saw a body hanging from a car as it ran a red light, though he did not recollect specific details about in which lane or how fast the car was traveling. Barnes allegedly “shoves” his counterfeit money under Miller’s fingers, the defense alleged, “which is what caused him to fall off, hit his head and die.” The two men drove off, Krowski continued, as “neither one of them knew he was hurt, just thought he fell off the car.” The prosecution claimed Barnes was a “participant, no doubt,” but in the robbery, not the murder. “Your task as jurors in this case is actually going to be far more simple at the end of the day,” said Rahimi. “One, who was operating the car on Nov. 16, 2018? And two, did their actions rise to the level of second degree murder?” The trial will continue at 9 a.m. Friday in Suffolk Superior Court.