Roxbury gang member gets life for 2013 drive-by murder in Egleston Square

Rasheem Christian got a mandatory sentence of life without parole yesterday following his conviction for first-degree murder for the 2013 death of Brianna Bigby, gunned down as she sat in a car in Egleston Square, the Suffolk County District Attorney's office reports.

Christian was convicted in his second trial for the shooting, which also sent a man to the hospital. A jury deadlocked in 2019. His case now goes to the Supreme Judicial Court for a mandatory review.

A second man, Anthony Howard, 34, is also charged in connection with the murder, allegedly related to his and Christian's involvement with the Greenwood Street Gang. Prosecutors say the two were driving in a rented Durango when they spotted an associate of the rival Magnolia Intervale Columbia Gang - the man Bigby was with - sitting in an Altima on Walnut Avenue and opened fire.

Howard has yet to come to trial. A judge released him to home confinement; earlier this year, he was indicted on federal charges that he used his time awaiting trial to start up a heroin business.

Howard is now in federal custody awaiting trial on the drug-dealing charges, but the Suffolk County DA's office says it intends to try him for Bigby's murder. He also faces state charges for allegedly shooting two men about ten hours before he is charged with helping to murder Bigby. He is next scheduled in Suffolk court on Nov. 15.