Nearly two years ago, the murder of 33-year-old pastor Daniel Mayers in Dorchester left those who loved him torn, faced with sudden gaps in their lives.
A church without a leader. Parents without a youngest son. A sister without a baby brother whose steady confidence had always made him seem older than his years.
When Boston Police announced an arrest in Mayers’s killing earlier this month, it felt, his sister Dennise Mayers, 36, said, like a step toward healing.
“We’re a family of faith, so we give thanks to God for getting to this point in that case,’’ she said. “We’re excited to get one step closer to justice.’’
The Mayers family thanked the Boston Police Department’s homicide unit in a statement describing Mayers as a “beloved son, brother, uncle, pastor, and community leader.’’
“While this is a step forward, our hearts remain heavy with grief,’’ the family said. “We thank everyone who has supported us during this difficult time and ask for continued prayers as we seek justice.’’
Amari Williams of Georgia turned himself in earlier this month on a warrant for Mayers’s murder. Suffolk prosecutors allege that Williams killed Mayers, who ran a side business repairing and selling used cellphones, after he and an accomplice claimed they wanted to sell him an iPhone and lured him to an address near Columbia Road in Dorchester.
That alleged accomplice, Elijah Clunie, was also the victim of Boston’s street crimes. He was killed in September, at age 20, in an execution-style shooting at a Dorchester barber shop. Mayers and Clunie represent two of Boston’s 66 killings since the beginning of 2023, horrific flashes of violence at a time that the city is seeing relative peace. Police do not believe the two killings are related.
The Boston Police Department had a homicide clearance rate of 92 percent in 2023 and 58 percent in 2024, Sergeant Detective John Boyle wrote in an email. Police have made arrests in three of the five homicides in the city this year.
For the Mayers family, the nearly two years since has been daunting. Mayers and his siblings grew up half a mile from where he was shot, living in the rectory behind St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, where their father, Thomas W.O. Mayers, was the reverend for nearly 20 years.
On a Sunday morning, half an hour before services started, a few early congregants settled into pews at St. Mark’s in front of lecterns decked out in purple for the start of Lent.
Arleen Green, a 69-year-old parishioner walking up to the church in her Sunday best, recalled seeing Daniel Mayers and his siblings grow up around her as their father led St. Marks.
“The whole congregation loved the family,’’ Green said. “We always thought, ‘Why? Why had someone shot him, and they didn’t catch him yet’?’’
Dennise Mayers said her family moved from Dorchester to Haverhill in the late 2000s, where her father pastored for a few churches before becoming a reverend for the Anglican Church in Grenada. Daniel Mayers attended the University of Massachusetts Lowell, majoring in business, accounting, and finance. He worked for a decade in multiple roles with Boston Public Schools and started a personal training business, working with clients throughout New England, according to his family.
Daniel Mayers possessed a quiet, warm charisma and was a natural leader, Denisse said.
“Even though he was younger than me by a year and some change, everyone thought he was older because of his presence,’’ she said.
Daniel Mayers was elected pastor of Family of God Church in Haverhill roughly six years ago, after its previous leader stepped down. Theresa Mathias, a member of Family of God, told the Globe in 2023 that Mayers gave her vital support when she was struggling as a single mother while working at a gas station to provide for her two young sons.
“He did a lot for this community outside these church walls,’’ she said. “He helped a lot of single moms.’’
That’s just the kind of person Daniel was, his sister said.
“Everyone always said that kind of stuff — he’s the guy who’d give you the shirt off his back. But he was really like that,” she said. “We dearly miss him.’’
The shooting occurred on May 22, 2023. Boston police officers responded to a Shotspotter activation on the 200 block of Columbia Road. There, they found Mayers, fatally wounded by a gunshot to the torso, according to prosecutors’ statement of the case.
Detectives learned that Mayers made extra cash buying broken cellphones, repairing them, and reselling them on Offer Up, an online classifieds platform. On that day, Mayers drove to meet Clunie, who was offering to sell an iPhone. At 4:55 p.m., Clunie messaged Mayers, “Dats you in the gray car?’’ according to prosecutors.
“Two minutes later, Mayers was shot and killed,’’ prosecutors wrote.
Surveillance video allegedly showed Clunie approaching Mayers’s car seconds before Williams allegedly walked up to the driver’s side window, drew a gun, and fired. Williams and Clunie allegedly fled to a home where police later found the murder weapon.
A Suffolk grand jury indicted Williams for murder and carrying a firearm without a license on Feb. 26 and a judge issued an arrest warrant. Williams turned himself in on March 6, according to District Attorney Kevin Hayden.
Williams pleaded not guilty at his arraignment to both charges. He was held without bail and is expected back in court on April 29 for a pre-trial hearing.
The congregation at Family of God in Haverhill did not survive Mayers’s passing, his sister said.
“After he left this world, the church soon after dissolved,’’ Denisse said. “It was really tough on the whole community going there.’’
Denisse expressed gratitude to the Boston Police Department, and said they had done an “incredible job’’ keeping the family updated throughout the investigation. The arrest of a suspect is an important step, she said, but far from the last.
“I think closure is going to really come when we have the final verdict,’’ she said.
Dan Glaun can be reached at dan.glaun@globe.com.
