Community members in Boston’s Mattapan neighborhood demonstrated extraordinary courage on a Saturday afternoon in June when they restrained a carjacking suspect who had struck and killed a pedestrian, preventing his escape until police arrived.
The chaotic incident unfolded just before 2 p.m. on June 20 along Blue Hill Avenue. Authorities say 37-year-old Ibraim Matos of Hyde Park first crashed his own vehicle at the intersection of Blue Hill Avenue and Woodhaven Street. He then fled the scene on foot and approached a woman waiting at Fernandez Xpress Car Wash, where he forcibly pulled her from her vehicle and drove away in the stolen car.
Matos drove the stolen vehicle the wrong way down Blue Hill Avenue, traveling on the sidewalk at high speed toward Mattapan Square. During this reckless drive, he struck 32-year-old Mabinty Janneh, who had just stepped off an MBTA bus and was on her way to the bank. Prosecutors said Janneh was dragged several hundred feet by the vehicle before Matos crashed into another car at the intersection of Blue Hill Avenue and Fairhaven Street. He continued driving and eventually struck an MBTA bus in the area of 1629 Blue Hill Avenue, where his rampage finally ended.
What happened next showcased the strength of community action. When officers arrived at the crash site, they found a large crowd of local residents who had already taken matters into their own hands. Several community members forcibly removed Matos from the vehicle and held him down, restraining him until police could arrive and take him into custody.
Witness Victoria McGovern, who observed the scene, expressed the neighborhood’s resolve. “You know we’re Boston, we’re strong. We stick together, especially in situations like that,” McGovern said. “You hurt one of us, we’re all coming.”
Another witness described the physical struggle as bystanders attempted to subdue the suspect. “I see people try to take the driver out, and there was a lot of fighting, a lot of arguing,” the witness said. Dailina Duverne, another person at the scene, credited the crowd’s intervention as heroic. “They’re heroes for that family,” Duverne said of the bystanders who sprung into action.
Duverne noted that an MBTA bus driver also played a critical role in stopping Matos’ rampage. “The bus saved a lot of people’s lives because he was out of control,” she told reporters. According to witnesses, Matos attempted to flee after crashing into the bus, but the crowd of bystanders pulled him from the vehicle, punched him, and held him down until police arrived.
Matos was arrested at the scene and charged with murder, carjacking, leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death, and leaving the scene of an accident resulting in personal injury. He pleaded not guilty to all charges at his arraignment in Dorchester District Court. A judge ordered him held without bail and sent to Bridgewater State Hospital for a 20-day mental health evaluation to determine his competency to stand trial.
The victim, Mabinty Janneh, 32, of Dorchester, became the tragic focal point of what residents described as a senseless act of violence. She had survived war in Sierra Leone and come to America seeking a better life, only to lose it on a Boston sidewalk in an instant. Her family remembered her as a devoted person who worked with people with developmental disabilities and sent her earnings home to family in Sierra Leone. She was in the process of learning to drive.
“Mabinty was a beautiful soul whose kindness, love, and hardworking spirit touched everyone who had the privilege of knowing her,” according to a community fundraiser set up to help her family. Her cousin Ahmad Thorley said at a memorial service at the Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center, “She’ll be known as a Bostonian.”
The community rallied in the days following the tragedy, holding vigils to remember Janneh and demand justice. Family and friends came together to honor her life and call for accountability. Boston Mayor Michelle Wu issued a statement expressing the city’s devastation. “We are devastated by the senseless act of violence on Blue Hill Avenue that took a woman’s life, left others injured, and has shaken the Mattapan community and our City. Our hearts are with the victim’s family, friends, and loved ones, as well as everyone impacted by this terrible tragedy.”