Edmond J. Zabin

Assistant District Attorney Edmond J. Zabin was recently tapped by Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley as the county’s new chief homicide prosecutor, leading the unit that investigates and prosecutes all homicides in Boston, Chelsea, Revere and Winthrop, and handles 40 percent or more of all the homicides committed in Massachusetts each year.

As chief of that unit, Zabin will review every suspicious or unattended death and assign a prosecutor whom he will oversee to direct a thorough, professional, and exacting investigation to determine whether criminal charges are warranted and against whom.

“The range and complexity of the cases Ed Zabin has handled throughout his career, the leadership he has demonstrated, the respect he enjoys among his colleagues and our law enforcement partners, and the compassion he has for victims all helped to convince me that he was the right choice for this position,” Conley said in a statement. “Above all else, however, this position demands a commitment to the highest legal, ethical and professional standards and Ed Zabin embodies those ideals.”

In his 15 years as a prosecutor, Zabin has represented the Commonwealth in hundreds of trials. After teaching social studies in the New York City Public Schools from 1988 to 1990, he began his career as Suffolk County prosecutor in 1993 and served as an attorney in the Appeals Division and in the Dorchester District Court. He was appointed supervisor of the Dorchester District Court in 1995 and in 1997 was promoted to the Superior Court.

In 2002, Conley promoted Zabin to the Homicide Unit. Four years later, he tapped Zabin to serve in the dual capacity of deputy chief of the Homicide Unit and chief of the Senior Trial Unit — a team of prosecutors who handle some of the most serious and complex violent crimes committed in Suffolk County.

“I’m honored and humbled at the trust District Attorney Conley has placed in me,” said Zabin. “This unit has a well-earned reputation for its hard work and high legal and ethical standards. I’m excited at the prospect of helping to take it to an even higher level.”

A graduate of Colby College and Northeastern University School of Law, Zabin lives in Boston with his wife and three children.