Dorchester man sentenced for 2011 shooting that left one teen dead and another injured
BOSTON, March 11, 2026 – A Dorchester man charged with the 2011 shooting that killed one teen and left another with life-long injuries was sentenced today after pleading guilty to manslaughter after having his original conviction overturned last year, Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden announced.
NYASANI WATT, 32, was charged with the fatal daytime shooting of 16-year-old Jaivon Blake and the non-fatal shooting of 14-year-old Kimoni Elliott on Geneva Avenue on September 25, 2011.
Watt, who was 17 at the time of the shooting, was found guilty of first-degree murder in December 2013 and received a life sentence with the possibility of parole after 15 years.
Watt was granted a new trial after the Supreme Judicial Court overturned his conviction in February 2024.
Watt pleaded guilty to manslaughter, armed assault to murder, and assault and battery causing serious bodily injury last week on March 4, the day jury selection was to begin in his retrial.
Judge Mary Ames today sentenced Watt to 14-17 years in state prison. With credited time served, Watt is immediately eligible for a parole hearing. If he is not granted parole, the latest he could be released would be November 2028.
On September 25, 2011, Jaivon Blake and Kimoni Elliott were walking back to Blake’s home on Geneva Avenue when Watt rode toward Elliott and Blake on a bicycle and fired six shots at them from behind. Elliott survived the gunshot wounds to his neck and right arm, but Blake died from a single gunshot wound to the torso.
In an impact statement read by ADA Cailin Campbell, Jaivon’s mother said “the person responsible may be asking for another chance at life. But Jaivon will never get that chance. He will never turn 17. He will never become a man. He will never get to live out the dreams he had as a 16-year-old who loved basketball and life.”
“I have deep sympathy for Jaivon’s mother and loved ones, both for the pain of their loss and for the fact that they had to live through all this again. Jaivon’s mother referenced this defendant getting another chance at life. I hope he uses it to bring good into the world,” Hayden said.
All charged individuals are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden’s office serves the communities of Boston, Chelsea, Revere, and Winthrop. Our office handles more than 20,000 cases a year. Nearly 160 assistant district attorneys practice in nine district and municipal courts, Suffolk Superior Court, the Massachusetts Appeals Court, the Boston and Chelsea Juvenile Courts and the Supreme Judicial Court. Our office employs some 300 people and offers a wide range of services and programs for anyone encountering the criminal justice system. We are committed to educating the public about our mission and services while focusing on crime prevention to keep the residents, workers and visitors of Suffolk County safe.
James Borghesani, Chief of Communications