A fire didn’t kill a 56-year-old man at Winslow-Celentano senior housing development. A person did.
So reported the police on Sunday.
The victim, Willie Evans, died early Friday morning at the Warren Street public-housing development in Wooster Square. Fire crews discovered his dead body inside an apartment that was filled with water, smoke and a minor fire.
On Sunday the chief medical examiner’s office issued a ruling on the cause of death: homicide.
Investigators noticed “red flags” at the time of the body’s discovery, according to Lt. Tony Reyes, head of the police department’s major crimes unit. The autopsy revealed that the victim did not suffer from smoke inhalation, but rather from injuries caused by another person.
Reyes said Sunday that police do have leads they’re pursuing in the investigation.
At this point they haven’t determined if the fire was accidental, or if someone started it to mask the homicide, Reyes said. “We’ll be working very closely with the fire department to determine” the answer to that question.
