Man Charged with Murder in Connection with Fatal Cambridge Shooting

A man was charged with murder Monday for allegedly acting as a lookout during the fatal shooting of 32-year-old Xavier Bautista on July 4, according to Middlesex District Attorney Marian T. Ryan.

Rayquon R. Brown, 29, was arrested and charged with murder, conspiracy to commit murder, carrying a firearm without a license, and being an armed career criminal.

Brown was one of several men allegedly involved in the shooting and served as a lookout while the others confronted Bautista, according to prosecutors.

Bautista, a Cambridge Public Works department employee, died of two gunshot wounds by multiple masked men near the intersection of Broadway and Norfolk Street shortly before 4:30 a.m. He had left his home roughly 30 minutes earlier wearing his work uniform, according to Ryan’s office.

The men fled the scene in a white Dodge Ram pickup truck.

Brown was arraigned at the Cambridge District Court Monday morning and ordered held without bail. Authorities said there is no known connection between Brown and Bautista, and the motive for the shooting remains unknown.

The investigation into the other people allegedly involved is ongoing.

Bautista was found roughly an hour after the shooting, when a pedestrian saw him “lying in a pool of blood,” and called 911. In response to the shooting, CPD has “increased patrols in and around the area in an effort to provide reassurance,” according to Ryan.

Bautista’s killing came roughly six weeks after the Cambridge City Council voted to discontinue the city’s use of ShotSpotter, a gunshot-detection system, citing concerns about the technology’s effectiveness and privacy implications.

At a community meeting held last week in response to the shooting, acting Cambridge Police Commissioner Pauline E. Wells said an active ShotSpotter system might have put first responders in a better position to respond sooner.

A ShotSpotter microphone had previously covered the area where Bautista was killed and had “previously detected gunfire in that region of the city,” according to a statement released by the Cambridge police officers union shortly after the shooting.

The Council’s decision has divided residents, with some celebrating the move as a victory for privacy and others arguing that the system could help police respond more quickly to shootings.

—Staff writer Shawn A. Boehmer can be reached at [email protected] and on Signal at shawnb.18. Follow him on X @ShawnBoehmer.