A 22-year-old Dorchester man in late February was sentenced to life in prison without parole for the killing of Aaron Wornum in 2011, according to the Suffolk County district attorney’s office.
Anthony Robertson, 22, was convicted of first-degree murder, armed robbery and unlawful possession of a firearm, the district attorney said Feb. 26 in a statement. Wornum, 25, was shot and killed June 26, 2011 in the area of Sumner and East Cottage streets in Dorchester.
Prosecutors relied in part on cell phone location data to tie Robertson to the crime. The city’s chief medical examiner also testified at the trial, describing how bullets hit Wornum’s neck and arm. The testimony prompted one woman to leave the courtroom in tears.
In 2008, Wornum had spoken to teens as part of an anti-violence program, advising them on how to break the cycle of inner-city crime.
His mother, Debbie Wornum, was in the courtroom for much of Robertson’s trial. Her son’s photo was used by Mothers for Justice and Equality for an anti-violence billboard campaign in 2012, the Boston Globe reported.
After Wornum’s death, his mother wrote a memorial about her son.
