BPD launches ‘Search for Justice’ Youtube campaign in hopes of closing unsolved homicides

The Boston Police are rolling out a new series of videos on their Youtube channel in hopes of generating more community responses for the city’s unsolved homicides.

The BPD released “The Search for Justice” video series on Tuesday to “increase awareness and generate tips.”

“As part of the Boston Police Department’s ongoing commitment to securing justice for homicide victims and the families impacted by the tragic death of a loved one, the BPD seeks to leverage the latest technology and social media as an innovative means of enhancing public outreach and generating additional information for homicide detectives,” officials posted on BPDNews.com.

The department will distribute videos across all of their social media accounts in hopes of encouraging community members to come forward with information on murders and bring peace of mind to family members.

They will feature one case per month in hopes of reaching all of the 340,000 plus followers of the BPD’s Twitter and Facebook accounts.

The project’s first video features Eric Smith-Johnson, 18, who was murdered in September 2010 on Blue Hill Ave. in Dorchester. In the video, Eric’s mother, Angelique Smith, and BPD Homicide Detective James Wyse discuss the facts and circumstances surrounding Eric’s death.

“I feel like when Eric’s soul left his body, a part of mine left,” Smith said in the video. “It was over for me. That was all I had.”

According to police, a suspect coming from Skylar Street drew a gun, fired several shots at Smith-Johnson. His mother said that she did not understand why someone would want to shoot him. She said he was a month and a day away fromturning 19.

“We hope that this effort will encourage those with information to contact our tip line with the understanding that it’s never too late to help,” Commissioner Bill Evans said in statement. “For the families impacted by violence, this project gives them a voice, a platform and an opportunity to remind people that the pain of losing a loved one lives with them every day;as does an equally intense desire to find the person responsible for the murder of their loved one.”

In August 2014, The Boston Herald reported that there were 336 unsolved murders in the past decade. Police hope that their efforts to seek answers will pierce the code of silence that has kept many of the murders unsolved.

“I want my son back, and I know that that’s not going to happen,” Smith said. “I hate that, and it kills me, to hear that this happens ever single day. Why let this person who chose to play God and decide it was time for this person to go walk freely in the streets?”