By George P. Hassett

Ferdinand Saintville, 25, had been anticipating his violent end. His girlfriend, Dianesse Berberena, said Saintville was preparing to die ever since he was shot one year ago.

  ‚ÄúHe used to tell me what he wanted to happen if he died. He was making plans. He knew he was going to die soon,‚Äù she said.

After leaving the Good Time Emporium just before 1:30 a.m. on Saturday, Saintville, of Everett, was shot for the second and last time.

Prior to the single shot that ended his life, a red van stopped short in front of Saintville and his friends at the corner of Alfred Lombardi Way and Mystic Avenue, police said. Saintville and his friends were in their own vehicle and pulled up next to the van with its windows already open and a loaded gun inside.

  According to police, words were exchanged between both parties. Then came the shot.  Saintville‚Äôs friend told police it came from the van. The bullet hit Saintville just below his left armpit.

Police arrested Marquis Williams, 20, of Randolph, in connection with the shooting. He is not believed to have pulled the trigger.

Williams was arraigned on the charge of accessory to murder on Monday from behind a wall because of identification issues, prosecutors said. He entered a plea of not guilty and was held without bail. Berberena, Saintville‚Äôs girlfriend of three years, watched the proceedings with tears in her eyes. ‚ÄúHe was a good, hard working man,‚Äù she said of her late boyfriend.  Berberena said Saintville had been a positive role model for her by holding down a steady fulltime job at Valvoline Instant Oil Change in Watertown  and caring for his 7 year old son.

“I was a lost cause when I met him. I thought hanging out and being in the streets was all there was to life. But he lifted me up and showed me how much more there was to living,” she said.

Saintville, who grew up in the Jefferson Park apartments in Cambridge, had never been in serious trouble, she said. He dreamed of earning enough money to buy a home, a car and lead a quiet, average life, she said.
However, she said Saintville had become convinced he would die young after being shot last year.‚ÄúHe would talk like he was making plans to die, he knew he was going to go,‚Äù she said.    

The day he did die, the verbal argument  and gunfire was allegedly witnessed by a cab driver who followed the red van into Charlestown and saw it pull onto Moulton Street.  The cab driver flagged down a Boston police officer and told her what he witnessed, police said.

Boston police allegedly located the van on Moulton Street, with Williams sitting in the drivers seat. A spent shell casing was found in Williams’ van, according to prosecutors.
After being booked and read his Miranda rights, police said Williams gave inconsistent statements about his activities on Friday night and early Saturday morning. He both denied and admitted having been in Somerville, police said. At one point Williams admitted being involved in an altercation at a traffic light and hearing gunshots, but he then told police he did not know where the shots had come from, according to the report. Williams said he did not know one of his passengers and could not recall the name of the other, according to local authorities.

Police said Williams and his van were positively identified by Saintville’s friend as being involved in the shooting. The case is still under investigation.