28-Year-Old Demitri Sousa Accused in Cranston Homicide, Swansea Double-Fatal Crash

Cranston police say a white 2013 Infiniti G37 registered to 28-year-old Demitri Sousa of Seekonk is connected to the fatal shooting of 35-year-old Javon Lawson and to a separate, deadly crash in Swansea that left two people dead. Swansea Police Chief Mark Foley and Fire Chief Eric Hajder wrote, “Swansea Police had been alerted to be on the lookout for the suspect vehicle. However, Swansea Police were not involved in the pursuit and were not pursuing the vehicle at the time of the crash.”

Cranston investigators say Sousa arrived at Lawson’s Legion Way home Thursday night, began banging on a side door, and that Lawson was shot as he approached; investigators report the victim was struck several times. Cranston Police Chief Michael J. Winquist said the encounter grew out of a dispute, adding, “That caused ‘conflict between the two men,’ he said.”

Winquist told investigators a license-plate reader first captured the Infiniti southbound on Route 10 in Rhode Island and later recorded the sedan in Fall River and Westport, Massachusetts; the plate was registered in Sousa’s name. Officers later found a pistol inside the Infiniti, and Winquist said additional .22 caliber ammunition was recovered from Sousa at Rhode Island Hospital after the subsequent crash.

Swansea officials say the sequence continued early Friday at about 12:18 a.m., when officers observed a white 2013 Infiniti G37 traveling westbound on Route 6 at a “very high rate of speed.” Moments later, that Infiniti allegedly collided with a blue 2022 Subaru Ascent that was traveling southbound on Route 136 - James Reynolds Road. Chief Foley and Chief Hajder described both vehicles as suffering “catastrophic damage,” and the Subaru was reported to be fully engulfed in flames as first responders and bystanders attempted to extinguish the blaze.

The two occupants of the Subaru - a man and a woman - were pronounced dead at the scene; Swansea officials have not released their names. Sousa suffered serious or “extensive” injuries and was transported to Rhode Island Hospital in Providence, where he was arraigned while hospitalized before a bail commissioner. No plea was entered, “as is standard for felony cases in Rhode Island,” and Sousa was ordered held without bail on charges filed by Cranston police: murder, using a firearm while committing a crime of violence, and carrying a pistol without a license.

The crash remains under active probe by Swansea Police, Massachusetts State Police, and State Police assigned to the Bristol County District Attorney’s Office, while Cranston Police continue to investigate the homicide. Swansea officials have not announced charges related to the fatal crash; authorities say additional evidence, including license-plate reader logs, weapon and ammunition forensics, and identification of the two crash victims, will be part of ongoing inquiries.