Murder Charges Filed In Fatal Shooting Of Waltham Woman

WALTHAM, MA — A second person has been charged in the investigation into the shooting death of Zharia Wilcox-Ellis in Waltham, the Middlesex District Attorney announced this week.

Kaire Holman, 31 of Quincy, has been charged with murder in connection with the fatal shooting on Aug. 2.

At approximately 11:30 p.m. that day, Waltham police responded to a parking lot adjacent to an apartment building on Second Avenue where they found Wilcox-Ellis suffering from an apparent gunshot wound. She was pronounced dead on the scene.

As a result of the still ongoing investigation, police were able to recover multiple pieces of ballistics evidence including two projectiles from the victim's body. Those projectiles matched ballistic evidence from a .380 firearm registered to Kaire Holman, officials said.

In August, Melanie Williams, 30, of Waltham, was charged with assault and battery on a household or family member in connection with physically assaulting her partner over the weekend.

Police responded to a parking lot adjacent to an apartment building on Second Avenue where they found a woman, later identified as Zharia Wilcox-Ellis, 24, of Waltham, with an apparent gunshot wound. She was pronounced dead on the scene.

The preliminary investigation indicates that, just prior to the shooting, there was an altercation involving a group of people outside the apartment building where Williams resides and Wilcox-Ellis was known to visit.

Video surveillance of the incident allegedly shows Williams striking Wilcox-Ellis, police said.