For Immediate Release: March 21, 2008                                       
Contact: Corey Welford/Jessica Venezia 617-679-6522

New York City Man Found Guilty Of First Degree Murder For Death Of Lowell Man

LOWELL – Middlesex District Attorney Gerry Leone’s office informed the public today that a Middlesex County jury has convicted a New York City man of murder in the first degree for the shooting death of Sharif Shaheed, 33, of Lowell. 

Jimmy Alcide, 24, was found guilty today for the murder of Shaheed.  Middlesex Superior Court Judge Jane Haggerty presided over the trial and scheduled a sentencing hearing for Wednesday, March 26, at 2 p.m. First Degree Murder convictions require a sentence of life in prison.

“Jimmy Alcide has now been found responsible for the senseless murder of the victim in this case, Sharif Shaheed,” District Attorney Leone said. “This tragedy involved yet another person resorting to guns and violence to resolve a conflict. While this scenario is unfortunately becoming all too familiar, it does not diminish its devastating impact on Sharif’s family and friends, and it will not diminish our commitment to working to prevent more of these tragedies from occurring in our communities. I also want to commend the excellent work of our team of prosecutors, Massachusetts State Police, and Lowell Police for their work in investigating and prosecuting this case.”

At approximately 11:04 p.m. on Saturday, July 8, 2006, Lowell Police responded to Lakeview Avenue for reports of a shooting.  Upon arrival at the scene, police found the victim on the ground outside McGinty’s Pub in Lowell suffering from an apparent gunshot wound.  He was transported to Lowell General Hospital, and later to Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, where he was pronounced dead at approximately 5:00 p.m. the following day.  The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (ME) found the cause of death to be a single gunshot wound to the head and ruled it a homicide.

Lowell Police contacted Massachusetts State Police assigned to the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office shortly after responding to the scene and together they commenced an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the shooting.  Witnesses at the scene said they saw Alcide shoot Sharif Shaheed in the head following a brief scuffle between the defendant’s friends and the victim’s friends outside McGinty’s Pub.  On Friday, July 14, 2006, police sought and obtained a warrant for Alcide’s arrest.

Alcide was arrested on July 17, 2006 without incident in Brockton.  He was arraigned on July 18, 2006 in Lowell District Court before Judge Geoffrey Packard.  At arraignment, Alcide pleaded not guilty and was ordered held without bail. 

A Middlesex County Grand Jury returned the indictment against Alcide on September 21, 2006, and he was arraigned on Wednesday, September 27, 2006 in the Middlesex Superior Court in Lowell.

The prosecutor assigned to this case was Assistant District Attorney John Verner.  The victim witness advocate was Dottie Berrios.

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