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Springfield Police closed part of Lucerne Road on Sunday, March 15 after a neighbor reported hearing 4 or 5 gunshots; the victim, Rakeem Nixon, died later at the hospital. (Photo courtesy of CBS 3 Springfield)

SPRINGFIELD - On a Sunday afternoon two months ago, Rakeem Nixon was gunned down while walking on a quiet residential street off Boston Road.

No motive for the killing was disclosed when the alleged shooter, 17-year old Christopher Montgomery, was arraigned amid unusually tight security the next day in Springfield District Court.

But details have emerged in recent weeks, despite a court order impounding all police reports and witness statements related to the March 15 homicide.

In a motion filed on April 14, Assistant District Attorney Matthew W. Green said the defendant has gang ties and a key witness has expressed fears for his safety.

Others who spoke to investigators after the shooting have "valid concerns" about their well being, Green wrote in a motion explaining the need to continue the impoundment order.

"The defendant and others are familiar with some of the witnesses," Green wrote.

The prosecutor's statement also suggests a possible motive for an encounter that led to Nixon's death, noting that Montgomery apparently "looked at him the wrong way" as the pair passed each other on Lucerne Road.

The victim was shot multiple times and died at the hospital - the city's seventh homicide in 2015.

Montgomery - listed in court records as 5-feet, 3-inches and 110 pounds - is being held without bail at a Department of Youth Services facility in eastern Massachusetts, court records show.

He is due back in court on May 12 for a so-called bind over hearing, to determine if his case should be transferred to Superior Court.

Three related firearms charges against Montgomery are being prosecuted in Juvenile Court.

The secrecy surrounding the case has frustrated defense lawyer Donald Frank, who filed a motion on April 9 demanding access to police reports and witness statements that are not redacted.

Noting that the information was crucial to Montgomery's defense, Frank asked for sanctions to be imposed on the Hampden District Attorney's office for withholding the information.

He also called for Montgomery's release until the prosecutors complied with his request.

"It is clear that police took numerous statements from various witnesses," Frank wrote in the motion.

"I have yet to be provided with a single witness name (or) address except of the defendant's brother," he added.

Several days later, Judge Patricia Poehler ordered that complete police reports and witness statements be turned over to the defense with the proviso that neither Frank nor anyone else reveals information about the witnesses to Montgomery.

In response, Frank withdrew his request for Montgomery's release and sanctions against the prosecutors.