Wave of shootings, fatal stabbings rock city streets

Vivian West (second from right) mourned the death of her son, Troy West, 42, during a vigil last night in the Dorchester park where he was found fatally stabbed Monday. No arrests have been made in the case. (PHOTOS BY TRAVIS DOVE FOR THE BOSTON GLOBE)

Violence, grief, and disbelief in Dorchester
Wave of shootings, fatal stabbings rock city streets
By Brian R. Ballou
Globe Staff / August 29, 2008

Troy West loved to draw, capturing family members and inanimate objects on his sketching pad. He wrote poems with such flair that his male friends asked him to pen love letters to their girlfriends so they could pass the sweet words off as their own. And he often spent hours listening to his vast music collection, smooth oldies that reminded him of his days growing up in Dorchester.

It was a 42-year life embedded in the arts, a life that was brutally silenced by at least 25 stab wounds. His body was found Monday on a park bench not far from the home he shared with his niece. Police have not made any arrests in the case.

"I never thought anything like this would happen to one of my children," Vivian West, 74, said, sitting in her Dorchester apartment yesterday with other grieving relatives, all trying to sort out the details of funeral arrangements and a peace vigil scheduled for last night at King Street Park, where a passerby discovered her son's body. They were also trying to sort out how such an ending could befall Troy West.
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