Crime
A jury found Julius Hammond-Desir, 21, guilty of first degree murder on Thursday.
A man convicted in a 2022 fatal shooting at South Shore Plaza in Braintree was sentenced to life in prison with a chance for parole, officials said.
Julius Hammond-Desir will be eligible for parole after 25 years, sentencing documents said. Documents show a jury convicted the 21-year-old of first degree murder in the killing of Dijoun Beasley, 26 at the shopping plaza on Jan 22, 2022.
Prosecutors said Beasely was shopping with his girlfriend and her son. A statement of facts shows a brief verbal exchange between Hammond-Desir and Beasley at a store in the mall, during which Hammond-Desir lifted up his shirt to show an unlicensed handgun in his waistband. The two got into another short verbal exchange, when Hammond-Desir took out his gun and shot Beasely in the head, documents said.
“This was a shocking and unconscionable chance encounter,” Norfolk District Attorney Michael W. Morrissey said in a statement to The Boston Globe. “It is our hope that, with this verdict, Mr. Beasley’s family and friends can find some comfort. We are profoundly sorry for their loss. We thank this jury for their service.”
In the sentencing document, Norfolk Superior Court Judge Peter B. Krupp explained that normally, any adult found guilty of first degree murder is sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. However, Krupp said that the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court recently ruled that life terms without the possibility of parole constitute “cruel or unusual punishment” if the defendant is under 21 years of age at the time of the murder.
Since Hammond-Desir was 19 when he killed Beasely, Krupp ruled he is eligible for parole after 25 years in prison.
“The profound sadness at the loss of Mr. Beasley, and the fact that he will never be present for future life events, will be felt by his mother, his other family members, and his close friends for the rest of their lives,” Krupp said in the sentencing document. “No parent should have to bury their child.”
However, Krupp acknowledged Hammond-Desir’s upbringing as a potential factor of the shooting. In the sentencing, Krupp noted that Hammond-Desir was both a witness and victim of “abuse and trauma” throughout his life.
Krupp noted that he hopes the sentencing will encourage Hammond-Desire to “mature, potentially obtain education, and to seek out mentors in custody who can help him develop skills, self-knowledge, and personal insight; and to give him an opportunity through his actions while in custody to demonstrate that he can be a productive member of the community outside of prison someday.”
Representation for Hammond-Desir did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
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