A grand jury investigation today identified a Dorchester man as the killer in last year’s stabbing murder of Boston University Dining Services employee Gregory Phillips, according to a Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office press release.
Corey Patterson, 24, was once charged as an accessory in the Nov. 8, 2009 killing in Allston, but now is being held without bail on one count of first-degree murder and five counts of assault and battery.
The new charges stemmed from a seven-month investigation of the murder by the Boston Police Department and Suffolk County DA Daniel Conley’s office.
According to the press release, police apprehended Patterson after he returned to the scene of the crime later night of the murder to retrieve a folding knife that he had thrown under a nearby car. The suspect fought with police as they attempted to remove him from another vehicle.
The murder occurred after an altercation outside The Kells bar in Allston led to the stabbing. Phillips, along with his roommate and two female friends, were leaving a birthday party in the bar shortly after 2:00 a.m., according to the DA’s office.
“As the bar was emptying out, [Patterson] began speaking with a female friend of the victim and began speaking with her and making rude comments,” Assistant District Attorney Gretchen Lundgren said in the press release.
“Mr. Phillips’ roommate asked the defendant to leave her alone and a verbal argument ensued. Mr. Phillips’ roommate asked the defendant to take the argument around the corner.”
As stated in the press release, before Phillips’ roommate, Patterson and Patterson’s group of friends could make it around the corner of the bar, the defendant punched Phillips’ roommate in the back of the head. Phillips then approached Patterson and the two started fighting, Lundgren said. Patterson then allegedly drew the knife and stabbed the unarmed Phillips in his chest.
Lundgren said Phillips stumbled across the street with blood soaking his shirt as Patterson fled the scene. The victim was taken to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center where he died, having been stabbed in the heart.
The DA’s office charged Patterson with the murder on Feb. 16 and issued a warrant for his arrest. The suspect has been in custody since his arrest last year and is set to return to court on Sept. 9.
This is an account occasionally used by the Daily Free Press editors to post archived posts from previous iterations of the site or otherwise for special circumstance publications. See authorship info on the byline at the top of the page.
