Election lawyer killed in Boston pedestrian accident

By Martin Finucane, Globe Staff

A well-known election lawyer was killed when he was struck by a car on William Day Boulevard at L Street in South Boston Wednesday evening, officials said.

The Suffolk district attorney’s office said the victim was a 66-year-old male. State Police detectives, crime scene, and crash investigators are probing the incident, which was reported by the driver at about 7:30 p.m., the prosecutors said.

US Representative Stephen F. Lynch said the victim was William A. McDermott, a long-time friend of the congressman.

“Last night we lost our dear friend Bill McDermott. For more than 30 years, Billy was a rock for me, Margaret, and countless other friends in South Boston and Dorchester and across Massachusetts. I don’t know where we’d be without the love and guidance he gave us. We are heartbroken. Our prayers are with Billy’s family today,” Lynch said in a statement released by his campaign for Senate.

Prosecutors said the operator of the 2012 Range Rover that struck McDermott, a 33-year-old South Boston man, remained at the scene and did not show signs of intoxication.

“No charges have been brought as of this morning but interviews are ongoing and the probe remains very active at this hour,” the district attorney’s office said in a statement.

McDermott has counseled many Democratic politicians, including Lynch and US Representative William Delahunt.

McDermott grew up in Savin Hill, earned his law degree at Suffolk University, and learned his trade as a Boston election commissioner. He later served on the Boston Redevelopment Board, and then as city lawyer in Chelsea. In 1993, he worked on the losing mayoral campaign of one of his Savin Hill neighbors, James T. Brett, the Globe reported in a profile in 2008.