A 23-year-old man, Josh Pierre of Waltham, has been convicted of the 2023 fatal shooting of Shelson Jules, Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan and Waltham Police Chief Kevin O’Connell confirmed; Pierre faces charges of voluntary manslaughter and carrying a firearm without a license—a verdict delivered by a jury in the Middlesex Superior Court, his sentencing set for May 27 by Judge William Barrett.
In a statement provided by the Middlesex District Attorney's Office, on May 22, 2023, at around 1:29 a.m., Waltham police were called to Lyman Street upon hearing news of multiple shots fired, they found Jules with gunshot wounds on the sidewalk he was quickly transported to a hospital where unfortunately, he succumbed to his injuries, an autopsy later showed Jules had been shot twice, investigators recovered eight cartridge casings and two live rounds from the scene.
According to details unearthed during the investigation, an altercation originated from a Snapchat group voice call, involving both Jules and Pierre, spiraled after insults were traded, culminating in Jules giving Pierre his location to confront each other physically; witnesses testified that Pierre then armed himself and set forth to meet Jules, resulting in a clash of words and a subsequent physical confrontation, wherein Pierre pulled out his gun, shot Jules, and fled.
After intensive investigative work spanning several months, Pierre became the primary suspect by July 2023, and authorities successfully apprehended him on September 22, 2023, in Miramar, Florida—the joint effort included the Middlesex District Attorney's Office, Waltham and Massachusetts State Police, the FBI, Miramar Police, U.S. Marshals Service, and the State Police Violent Fugitive Apprehension Section, Assistant District Attorneys Graham Van Epps, Mary O'Neill and Dylan Punch led the prosecutorial charge, supported by Victim Witness Advocate Susie Marshall.
