BOSTON — A career criminal with 17 prior cases, free on bail for three separate felonies and a stack of active warrants, drove a stolen car at two Boston cops after a Mission Hill carjacking in March. He got shot. Now Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden wants the cop who pulled the trigger in prison.
Boston Police Officer Nicholas O'Malley, 33, was charged with manslaughter in the fatal shooting of Stephenson King, 39, of Dorchester — and is launching a public fundraiser for his family's living expenses ahead of Thursday's probable-cause hearing, his defense lawyer David Yannetti said.
"We have court on Thursday," Yannetti wrote on X Monday night. "We have heard from police officers from across the country who support Boston Police Officer Nick O'Malley and are as outraged as we are."
The fundraiser, hosted at 3agear.com/omalley, is meant to cover "family living expenses, in anticipation of the consequences of indictment, which will occur unless the Suffolk County District Attorney's office comes to its senses."
What King had done before he was shot
Stephenson King — the suspect O'Malley killed — was free that March afternoon despite a record that should have kept him behind bars:
- 17-plus criminal cases spread across Massachusetts
- Open felony cases: out on bail in at least THREE separate ones
- Active arrest warrants at the time of his death
- Prior charges include: strangulation, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, carjacking, breaking and entering, gun charges, and resisting arrest
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What had King been doing fifteen minutes before the shooting? Allegedly, carjacking a woman outside a pizza restaurant in Mission Hill — forcing her out of her running car so he could take it.
The traffic stop
Officers caught up to the stolen vehicle at Linwood Square in Roxbury. King ignored verbal commands. He backed the car into a Boston Police cruiser. Then he drove forward — toward officers on foot, including O'Malley's partner.
O'Malley fired three shots through the driver's window.
He later told investigators he feared for his own life and for the life of his fellow officer, believing his colleague was about to be run over by King's stolen getaway car.
The DA's call
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Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden's decision to charge O'Malley was as uncommon as it was politically charged: Hayden brought manslaughter charges against the officer BEFORE seeking a grand jury indictment — a procedural shortcut not typically used in police shooting cases.
Police union and law enforcement officials erupted at the move. Yannetti's Monday post says officers from across the country are now reaching out to support O'Malley.
Hayden, who is facing primary challengers in part because of the O'Malley case, has not backed off.
What's next
The probable-cause hearing is Thursday. Yannetti says indictment will follow "unless the Suffolk County District Attorney's office comes to its senses."
In the meantime, the cop who fired the shots that ended a 17-case career criminal's escape — and who said he did so to keep his partner from being run down — is asking the public to help cover his family's living expenses.
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