Middleboro resident among Carver shooting victims

MIDDLEBORO — A Middleboro resident was among the two people killed, and two injured, in a Carver shooting Saturday night. 

Twenty-year-old Jalen Pina, of Middleboro, was injured at the Jan. 24 shooting at 53 Silva St. and was transported to Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital in Plymouth. He was later pronounced dead. 

Benjamin Cowart, 27, was found dead on the scene. Two other men were transported to area hospitals. The shooting occurred during a child’s birthday party.

Plymouth man Nicholas Meuse, 23, was sighted down the street and arrested as the suspected shooter. 

According to the Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office, Meuse was apprehended in the woods near the scene of the shooting shortly after the incident. Meuse called police following the incident and told dispatchers he was the shooter.

During interviews with law enforcement, Meuse stated he had been invited to the party by a relative but had pre-existing conflicts with some of the attendees. 

Once he arrived, Meuse said tensions flared up and ultimately led to the shooting. While Meuse claimed to have seen one of the attendees reach for their waistband immediately before the incident, investigators only found a single gun at the scene.

Meuse was arraigned in Wareham District Court on Jan. 27, and is facing 12 criminal charges related to the shooting including two counts each of murder, attempted murder and armed assault to murder.

Meuse is being held without bail pending a probable cause hearing scheduled for Feb. 25.