BOSTON — A Healey-appointed judge released a career criminal on $0 bail despite prosecutors' objections. Twelve days later, he allegedly dragged a terrified woman from her running vehicle and rammed a police cruiser trying to escape. The officer who shot him now faces manslaughter.

Judge Rebeca Figueroa denied the Commonwealth's motion to revoke bail on February 27, 2026, and released Stephenson King, 39, on personal recognizance with no bail required.

King had seventeen criminal cases spanning two decades. Breaking and entering at night. Two strangulations. Multiple gun charges. An assault on an elderly victim.

When Figueroa released him, King was already out on bail on four separate felonies and had violated bail conditions twice in the previous six months.

Prosecutors wanted him held. She said no.

Judge Rebeca Figueroa, appointed by Governor Healey in 2024, released King on $0 bail on February 27, 2026. WGBH

What Happened Next

March 5, 2026 — Six days after his release, King violated bail conditions for a third time. A warrant was issued. He was now a fugitive.

March 11, 2026 — Six days after that, King allegedly dragged a woman from her running vehicle outside a pizza restaurant in Mission Hill. When police arrived, he refused commands, partially cracked the window but wouldn't unlock the doors, then threw the car in reverse and rammed a police cruiser.

Officer Nicholas O'Malley fired three shots. King was pronounced dead at a local hospital. No weapon was found in the stolen vehicle.

The Timeline

King had been arrested in June 2025 for assault and battery on an elderly or disabled person with injury — a felony.

He was already out on bail on three other pending felonies: two assaults with dangerous weapons and a second-offense gun charge.

Between July 2025 and February 2026, King was released on $0 bail five times on just the elderly assault case. He violated bail conditions three times.

After the first violation in August, he was released again.

After the second violation in August, his bail was finally revoked. He was held for three months.

On November 19, 2025, he was released again on $0 bail.

On February 27, 2026, prosecutors filed another motion to keep him locked up.

Judge Figueroa denied it. King walked free.

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Twelve days later came the carjacking. Six days after becoming a fugitive wanted on an active warrant.

Who Is Judge Figueroa?

Rebeca Figueroa was nominated by Governor Maura Healey in March 2024 and confirmed as an Associate Justice of the Boston Municipal Court.

She presides at the Dorchester Division — where King's case was heard.

Before becoming a judge, Figueroa spent more than 20 years as a criminal defense attorney. She began her career in 2003 at the Committee for Public Counsel Services in the Roxbury Defenders Unit, representing indigent criminal defendants charged with felony offenses.

She later ran her own solo practice focused on criminal defense, family law, and real estate.

In 2017, she was appointed Assistant Clerk-Magistrate for Criminal Business at Suffolk Superior Court.

She is also the presiding justice of the Dorchester Recovery Court.

Her entire legal career was spent either defending criminals or advocating for alternative sentencing.

King's Criminal Record

Court records show King faced seventeen separate criminal cases across three Boston courts spanning two decades:

• Breaking and entering at night while someone was home (2017)
• Two strangulation charges (2017, 2018)
• Multiple gun possession cases (2006, 2024)
• Assault on an elderly or disabled person (2025)
• Two assault and battery with dangerous weapon charges (2024)
• Repeated domestic violence incidents
• Drug charges
• Threats to commit crime
• Abuse prevention order violations

When he allegedly committed the carjacking on March 11, 2026, he was out on bail on four pending felonies, actively wanted on a warrant, and had been released without bail five times in eight months.

Stephenson King from bodycam footage — Stephenson King in bodycam footage from a January 2024 arrest where he was found passed out with a loaded "ghost gun." Boston Police Department

The Irony

A week after the shooting, O'Malley was arrested and charged with manslaughter — the first Boston police officer prosecuted for an on-duty shooting in more than three decades.

He faces up to 20 years in prison.

His defense attorney argued it was "outrageous" that prosecutors sought $25,000 bail for the officer while King had been released on $0 bail despite facing multiple violent felonies.

Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden offered his condolences to King's family, adding: "His life matters, and my office is firmly committed to seeking justice in this case."

Mayor Michelle Wu told reporters she was "grateful to District Attorney Hayden and Commissioner Cox for the urgency they have brought to this investigation."

Neither mentioned Officer O'Malley or the fact that he was responding to a violent carjacking committed by a fugitive wanted on an active warrant.

Neither mentioned the judge who released that fugitive twelve days earlier.

The Question

Judge Figueroa had a choice on February 27, 2026.

Prosecutors told her King was a danger. They wanted him held.

King had already violated bail twice. He had seventeen criminal cases. Four pending felonies. A history of violence against women, gun possession, and breaking into homes at night.

She released him anyway.

Twelve days later, a woman was dragged from her car. Six days after that, an officer fired three shots at a fugitive in a stolen vehicle.

Now that officer faces manslaughter charges.

The judge who made it possible? She's still on the bench.

Judge that freed Boston carjacker with 47 prior charges on $0 bail was appointed by Healey in 2024 — Boston cop faces 20 years

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