DA: New Bedford man gets life without parole for 2024 Earle Street killing of Aaron Britto
Prosecutors said surveillance video showed the shooting at 234 Earle St. and Jalo taking Britto's gold chain. The jury also convicted Jalo of armed robbery and a firearm charge.
NEW BEDFORD A New Bedford man will serve life in prison without parole after a Fall River Superior Court jury convicted him Thursday of first-degree murder in the 2024 Earle Street killing of Aaron Britto, prosecutors said.
Anthony Jalo, 23, was also convicted of armed robbery and unlawfully carrying a firearm at the end of a three-week trial, Bristol County District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn III announced, as WBSM and NBC 10 WJAR reported Friday. Britto, who also lived in New Bedford, was 44.
Prosecutors said surveillance cameras recorded the shooting in the yard of Harmony House at 234 Earle St., in the city's Near North End, and Quinn said the conviction rested mainly on that video and on phone location data. "This case highlights the critical importance of technology in solving many of these violent street cases," he said.
The sentence
Jalo received life without the possibility of parole on the murder charge, 10 to 15 years on the armed robbery charge and 3 to 5 years for unlawfully carrying a firearm, according to the district attorney's announcement as WBSM reported it. WJAR also reported the life sentence without parole from Quinn's office.
What prosecutors said happened
New Bedford police received a 911 call at about 1:36 a.m. Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024, reporting shots fired and a man not breathing in the yard of Harmony House, the district attorney's office said. Officers found Britto lying in the grass with multiple gunshot wounds. He was taken to St. Luke's Hospital and pronounced dead there, WBSM reported at the time.
Britto had come from the Feast of the Blessed Sacrament and stopped at the Morna Lounge and Grill, authorities said in 2024, as WJAR reported. In the announcement on the verdict, the office said Jalo and a second man lured Britto down an alley, then shot and robbed him, WJAR reported.
Surveillance video showed Britto following the second man down the alley, according to the office. Jalo is then seen walking down the same alley and immediately firing at Britto, striking him multiple times, then leaning over him and taking his gold chain before the two men fled, prosecutors said. In 2024, officials also said the video showed Jalo shooting Britto again, WJAR reported.
Jalo, then 21, was arrested Aug. 16, 2024, the district attorney's office said. He was arraigned on a murder charge that day in New Bedford District Court and held without bail, according to reports at the time by WBSM and WJAR. Prosecutors told the court that investigators had identified him from multiple angles of surveillance video, WJAR reported.
What the district attorney said
"This case is a tragic loss of life simply because the defendant wanted to rob the victim of his property," Quinn said. "This is another example of the lawlessness that is going on in our communities that upends lives and serves no purpose."
Quinn praised the trial prosecutors' presentation of the video and phone evidence and thanked the investigators who searched for and collected it. "I am pleased that the victim's family received some consolation with a first-degree murder conviction for this totally senseless killing," he said.
What happens next
If Jalo appeals, state law sends the whole case, the law and the evidence, to the Supreme Judicial Court for review, as it does for every first-degree murder conviction. The court may order a new trial or enter a verdict of a lesser degree of guilt if it finds the verdict was against the law or the weight of the evidence, because of newly discovered evidence, or for any other reason justice requires, under Chapter 278, Section 33E of the state's General Laws.
Label: Reported by us, from the town's posted records.
Notes
The verdict, the sentences, the account of the shooting and Quinn's words come from the Bristol County District Attorney's announcement of Nov. 6, which is not posted on the office's website. We rely on it as two independent newsrooms reported it, WBSM and NBC 10 WJAR, and each is credited in the story. The 2024 arrest and arraignment come from WBSM's and WJAR's reports at the time, and the review rule comes from the state's General Laws. We read them on Nov. 6 and Nov. 7, and we checked each date and weekday against a calendar. We do not name the second man or anyone who helped police identify Jalo. The district attorney's announcement and the court docket will be added when we have them.
Corrections
No corrections to this story. If something here is wrong, tell us. Every correction is dated on the story and listed in our public log.
Sources (5)
- WBSM, "New Bedford Earle Street Murder Trial Ends in Life Sentence"From the Bristol County District Attorney's announcement: the Nov. 5 verdict, the three-week trial in Fall River Superior Court, the sentence on each charge, the 911 call, the account of the video and the gold chain, the Aug. 16, 2024 arrest and Quinn's statements. Posted Nov. 6, 2026. Read Nov. 6 and Nov. 7, 2026.
- NBC 10 WJAR, "New Bedford man sentenced to life in prison for murder"From the district attorney: the defendant's name and age, the victim's age, the three convictions, the sentence of life without parole, 234 Earle St., the Morna Lounge, the alley, the video and phone data, and Quinn's statement. Posted Nov. 6, 2026. Read Nov. 6 and Nov. 7, 2026.
- WBSM, "New Bedford Earl Street Homicide Suspect Arrested"The Aug. 16, 2024 arrest, Jalo's age then, the New Bedford District Court arraignment, Britto's hometown and St. Luke's Hospital. Posted Aug. 16, 2024. Read Nov. 7, 2026.
- NBC 10 WJAR, "Man accused in New Bedford killing held without bail"The Aug. 16, 2024 arraignment and no-bail order, the Feast of the Blessed Sacrament and Morna Lounge and Grill, and what prosecutors told the court about the video. Posted Aug. 16, 2024. Read Nov. 7, 2026.
- Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 278, Section 33ESupreme Judicial Court review of first-degree murder convictions. Read Nov. 7, 2026.