A 23-year-old New Bedford man will spend the rest of his life in prison for gunning down another man and stealing his gold chain in August 2024. Anthony Jalo was found guilty Thursday after a three-week trial and sentenced to life without the possibility of parole for first-degree murder, along with additional time for armed robbery and carrying a firearm.
Jalo was convicted of first-degree murder, armed robbery, and carrying a firearm, and will serve life without the possibility of parole, according to masslive.com. A separate account from Fall River Reporter detailed the full breakdown of the sentence: life without parole on the murder charge, three to five years concurrent for unlawful carrying of a firearm, and ten to fifteen years from and after on the armed robbery count.
The case traces back to the night of August 4, 2024, when New Bedford police responded to a report of shots fired near Harmony House at 234 Earle Street. Officers arrived to find 44-year-old Aaron Britto on the ground suffering from gunshot wounds; he later died from his injuries, the outlet reported.
Surveillance Footage Captured the Attack
Prosecutors said surveillance footage showed Jalo following Britto into a nearby alley before shooting him. The footage reportedly showed Jalo lean over Britto's body and take a gold chain off it, according to the same masslive.com account of the trial.
Bristol County District Attorney Tom Quinn said video surveillance and phone location data were central to the conviction. Per the district attorney's account relayed by Fall River Reporter, the conviction hinged primarily on the effective use of video surveillance and phone location data, which prosecutors used to place Jalo at the scene and tie him to the shooting.
Sentencing Closes Out a Two-Year Case
The guilty verdict and sentencing bring a close to a case that had stretched more than two years since Britto was killed outside Harmony House. Jalo's conviction on all three charges — murder, armed robbery, and unlawful carrying of a firearm — reflects the breadth of the evidence prosecutors presented over the three-week trial, as reported by masslive.com.
