Boston police are investigating a dead body discovered at a Mattapan rental property owned by Conan Harris, the husband of Democratic "Squad" member Rep. Ayanna Pressley, a home that brought the couple as much as $100,000 in rent last year.
Officers reached 25 Malta St. in Boston's Mattapan neighborhood at 1:52 p.m. Saturday after a caller asked them to check on a person at the address. When they arrived, they found the individual dead. The Boston Police Department's homicide unit took the case, and by Saturday evening red crime scene tape ringed the property, a cruiser idled out front, and an officer stood watch at the front door.
Police have not named the deceased, disclosed a cause of death, or said whether they suspect foul play. City property records name Conan Harris as the owner of the seven-bedroom house, the Daily Caller reported. Neither Pressley nor Harris lives there; the congresswoman's office told The Boston Globe the house operates as a rental.
A spokesperson for Pressley issued a brief statement Saturday night to CBS News Boston: "The Congresswoman extends her deepest condolences to the impacted family." No further details came from her office.
A $340,000 purchase, a $1.15 million listing, and a prior police raid
Harris paid $340,000 for the Malta Street property in 2021. The house dates to 1910 and now carries a municipal assessment above $919,000. He later listed it for sale at $1.15 million. The Washington Examiner reported the home had been listed on the real estate market roughly one month before Saturday's discovery.
Chantae Turner, the listing agent hired by the couple, told The Boston Globe that the tenants had lived there "for a while."
But the property's recent history raises questions that go beyond the real estate listing. A neighbor identified only as Cherill told the Globe that Boston police conducted a raid at the same address roughly two months before the home went on the market. Cherill said every floor housed tenants at the time, some of them teenagers still in high school. The New York Post reported the prior raid as well, noting it occurred about two months before Saturday's incident.
Boston Police have not confirmed the earlier raid or addressed whether it connects to the current death investigation. Officers on scene Saturday would not say whether anyone had been staying at the property at the time the body was found.
The gap between what authorities will say and what a neighbor describes is wide. If police did raid the property two months ago and then a body turned up at the same address, the public deserves a clear accounting of what happened in between, and who was responsible for conditions inside the home. Incidents like these are a reminder that law enforcement transparency matters, especially when elected officials or their families are connected to the scene.
Federal filings show a lucrative rental portfolio
The Malta Street address is not the couple's only rental income stream. Federal financial disclosure filings show the property delivered Pressley and Harris as much as $100,000 in rent during 2025, according to Mass Daily News, which cited those filings. The same disclosures list four Massachusetts rental properties that together brought in roughly $350,000 last year.
That portfolio puts Pressley, a member of the progressive "Squad" caucus that routinely calls for affordable housing and tenant protections, in the position of a substantial landlord. There is nothing unlawful about owning rental property or earning income from it. But the contrast between the political brand and the balance sheet is hard to miss, particularly when one of those properties is now the center of a homicide investigation.
Breitbart noted that Pressley's office provided no details beyond the brief condolence statement, and that the cause and manner of death remain undisclosed. Newsmax confirmed that authorities have not indicated whether foul play is suspected.
Harris was across town when police arrived
At the time officers responded to Malta Street on Saturday, Conan Harris was at a Roxbury library renaming ceremony honoring Sarah-Ann Shaw, described as the first Black woman to report for Boston television. There is no suggestion Harris was present at the property when the body was discovered.
Pressley captured her House seat in 2018 after unseating longtime Rep. Michael Capuano in a Democratic primary. She represents Massachusetts' 7th Congressional District, which includes Boston. The discovery at a property tied to her household adds an unwelcome spotlight to a congresswoman whose progressive credentials depend in part on her connection to the communities she represents.
When public officials or their families own properties where serious crimes occur, the questions that follow are unavoidable, and they should be. Accountability does not pause for political convenience. Across the country, communities have seen how law enforcement investigations involving public figures can either build or erode public trust depending on how transparently they are handled.
What Boston police still have not answered
The list of unanswered questions is long. Who was the person found dead? Was the individual a tenant, a visitor, or someone else? What killed them? Did police know about conditions inside the home before Saturday? And does the alleged earlier raid have any bearing on what detectives found this time?
BPD spokesperson James Moccia told CBS News Boston that the homicide unit had taken the case but said he had nothing further to share. Sgt. Det. John Boyle characterized the matter to The Boston Globe only as a "death investigation." That careful language leaves open every possibility, from natural causes to something far worse.
Security and public safety incidents involving people connected to Congress are not new. Just recently, an armed man was arrested at a Capitol barricade in a separate reminder that the intersection of politics and crime draws intense public scrutiny.
By Saturday evening, few specifics had surfaced. The crime scene tape stayed up. The cruiser stayed parked. And the questions kept piling up faster than the answers.
When a member of Congress collects six figures in rent from a property where someone turns up dead, and police had already raided the same address weeks earlier, the public has every right to demand answers. Condolences are easy. Transparency is harder. Boston deserves the harder part.
