Social media posts, texts tie men to Worcester apartment killings, police say (2025)

Text messages and social media posts between four men showed they knew each other prior to a shooting that left one of the men and his mother dead in their Worcester apartment, according to court documents.

In Worcester District Court on Thursday, Attleboro resident Jeffrey Toney, 29, was charged with two counts of murder in connection with the double shooting that killed Evan Landry and his mother Tracy Landry at Tatnuck Square Apartments on Brookside Avenue on the night of Nov. 21, 2024.

Weymouth resident Shaquille Watford, 33, was scheduled to be arraigned on similar charges Thursday morning. After his name was called, a corrections officer told Judge David Despotopulos that Watford was not on the vehicle meant to take him from Suffolk County Jail to Worcester District Court.

That afternoon, Watford was arraigned on a murder charge and a judge ordered he be held without bail, a spokesperson for Worcester County District Attorney Joseph Early Jr. told MassLive on Thursday.

Fall River resident Sheldon Thorpe, 22, was also charged with two counts of murder in connection with the Landrys’ deaths among other gun-related charges. He appeared in Worcester District Court for his arraignment on Monday and pleaded not guilty. He was ordered he be held without bail, according to court documents.

Thorpe and three accomplices left Stoughton in a 2023 Toyota Rav-4 with a New Jersey license plate, court documents stated. They arrived at the Tatnuck Square Apartments on Brookside Avenue at around 5:11 p.m. on Nov. 21, 2024, according to video obtained by police.

The suspects walked into the apartment, with one carrying an assault rifle, and seven shots were heard, police said in their reports. Both of the Landrys were struck several times. Following the shooting, the suspects took the apartment carrying large bags to the Toyota waiting for them outside, police said. It is unclear what was in the bags.

Then, at around 6:19 p.m., officers were dispatched to the apartment building, police wrote. The 911 caller told police that they heard loud banging and thought it was at their door.

Police arrived to find the mother and son with gunshot wounds. Tracy Landry was pronounced dead, while Evan Landry was hospitalized and later pronounced dead at the hospital.

The apartment showed signs of a struggle, with money and packages containing “a green leafy substance, believed to be marijuana” lying on the floor, police said. Some items appeared to be missing from the apartment. Shell casings were also found on the floor, discharged by the assault rifle.

Police identified the three suspects through witness descriptions, text messages and social media posts shared between the suspects and Evan Landry, video footage taken near the apartment complex, the GPS location of the Toyota and fingerprints found at the Landrys’ apartment.

Police arrested Thorpe in Boston’s Dorchester neighborhood on Monday. Watford was arrested in Weymouth on April 3 on charges related to the Worcester shooting and other outstanding warrants, police said. Toney had been previously arrested on other charges.

Judge Timothy Bibaud entered a not-guilty plea on Toney’s behalf for two charges of murder. Bibaud ordered Toney be held without bail.

Thorpe, Toney and Watford are all next scheduled to appear in court on May 22.