SWANSEA, Mass. — A violent chain of events stretching across two states has left three people dead and a suspect hospitalized under police guard. Authorities say the driver who caused a fiery crash in Swansea early Friday morning, killing two people, is also the prime suspect in a fatal shooting in Cranston, Rhode Island, just hours earlier.
According to Michael J. Winquist of the Cranston Police Department, officers responded shortly after 8:30 p.m. Thursday to reports of shots fired at a home on Legion Way in Cranston. There, they found Javon Lawson, 35, suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. Lawson was rushed to a local hospital but was later pronounced dead.
Investigators identified the suspect as Demitri Sousa, 28, of Seekonk, Massachusetts. Surveillance cameras reportedly captured Sousa fleeing the scene in a 2013 white Infiniti G37. Winquist said detectives uncovered evidence of a prior dispute between Sousa and Lawson involving a mutual acquaintance, leading authorities to name Sousa as the prime suspect in the homicide.
Hours later, shortly after 12:15 a.m. Friday, officers with the Swansea Police Department spotted Sousa’s Infiniti traveling at very high speeds westbound on Route 6 in Swansea. Police said Sousa was not being pursued at the time. Moments later, the Infiniti collided with a blue 2022 Subaru Ascent traveling southbound on Route 136.
The crash caused catastrophic damage to both vehicles. Swansea authorities said the Subaru became fully engulfed in flames. Despite rescue efforts by firefighters and bystanders, a man and a woman inside the Subaru were pronounced dead at the scene. Their names have not yet been released pending family notification.
Sousa was arrested around 12:45 a.m. and transported to a local hospital with serious injuries. He remains in police custody. Officers recovered a .22-caliber revolver believed to have been used in the Cranston shooting, along with ammunition, from inside his vehicle. Sousa faces charges including murder, using a firearm during a violent crime, and unlawful possession of a weapon. Authorities say he will be arraigned once he is medically cleared.
