3 arrested in connection with 2024 Worcester double homicide

Three men have been charged with murder in connection with a 2024 shooting that killed two people in Worcester, the city’s police department announced Monday.

Fall River resident Sheldon Thorpe, 22, Weymouth resident Shaquille Watford, 31, and Attleboro resident Jeffrey Toney, 29, are facing two murder counts each in the Nov. 21 apartment complex shooting, which left a man and a woman dead. 

All three men are also charged with two counts of armed assault with intent to rob and three firearms-related charges in connection with the shooting, the Worcester Police Department said in a press release.  

Authorities found and arrested Thorpe in Dorchester Monday, police said. Watford was apprehended in Weymouth April 3 on charges related to the shooting and other warrants, while Toney was already in police custody on unrelated charges, according to the press release.  

Thorpe was arraigned on the murder charges Tuesday in Worcester District Court, where a not guilty plea was entered on his behalf. He previously pleaded not guilty to the armed assault and firearm charges Monday. 

Thorpe was ordered held without bail and is due back in court May 22. His attorney was not immediately available for comment Tuesday. 

Watford pleaded not guilty to the armed assault and firearm charges last Friday. He’s expected to be arraigned on the murder charges Thursday. Toney is also scheduled for arraignment Thursday on all his shooting-related charges, per online court records. 

Authorities have not publicly identified the two shooting victims. According to a police report filed in court, officers were dispatched to a Brookside Avenue apartment around 6:19 p.m. Nov. 21 for reported gunshots and found the man and woman mortally wounded. 

“Signs of struggle were located in the apartment,” the police report reads. “US currency and packages containing a green leafy substance, believed to be marijuana, were strewn about the floor and items appeared to be missing.” 

The shooting suspects left the apartment with large bags and fled to a waiting car, the report alleged. 

Police allegedly identified Thorpe, Watford, and Toney as suspects through a combination of forensic evidence including witness information, surveillance footage, and the car’s GPS data, according to the report. Investigators also purportedly uncovered text messages and social media posts between one of the victims and Watford and Toney. 

The double homicide remains under investigation, Worcester police said.

Abby Patkin is a general assignment news reporter whose work touches on public transit, crime, health, and everything in between. She has been covering the Karen Read murder case.