Man convicted of 2022 Caribbean Carnival killing sentenced to nearly 20 years in prison

A Roslindale man was sentenced Thursday to nearly two decades in prison after he fatally shot a Brighton man during the 2022 Caribbean Carnival in Boston.

Tony Vance, 41, was sentenced in Suffolk Superior Court to 15 to 18 years in state prison for manslaughter, a concurrent sentence of four to five years for possession of a loaded firearm without a license to carry, and two years of probation after he was convicted Wednesday, court records show. Vance was arrested and initially charged with murder in October 2023.

Vance killed Derrell Russell, 33, on Aug. 27, 2022 after a “verbal altercation” with attendees at the annual Caribbean Carnival in Franklin Park, the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office said in a statement. As he drove by the area of 970 Blue Hill Ave. in Dorchester, he opened fire on the crowd and shot a man, later identified as Russell, in the torso.

Russell was taken to Boston Medical Center, where he died from his injuries, according to prosecutors. During Thursday’s sentencing, his fiancé gave a victim impact statement, saying that his death “left a void that cannot be filled.”

“Our youngest child, who I was 7 months pregnant with at the time, will never get to meet him or experience him the way we did,” Russell’s fiancé said. “She will never hear his voice, feel his protection, or know firsthand the love he had to give. That is a lifelong loss she did nothing to deserve.”

Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden condemned Russell’s killing, calling it “a devastating moment of violence amid a celebration of community spirit.”

“Once again we see the terrible consequences of illegal guns in the hands of people unhesitant to use them, in this case with bullets flying into a crowd gathered for one of our city’s proudest celebrations,” Hayden said in a statement. “The words of Derrell Russell’s fiancé speak poignantly to the unending loss and sorrow caused by such reckless actions.”

Vance’s attorney, Robert Sheketoff, did not immediately return a request for comment Thursday night.