A Suffolk Superior Court jury convicted Maurice “Mo” Jones, 21, of first-degree murder Thursday after prosecutors proved that, three years ago, Jones opened fire on two people sitting in a vehicle in Roxbury, killing one and injuring the other.
According to prosecutors, on April 17, 2012, at approximately 4 p.m., Jones approached a vehicle on Dunreath Street carrying a .45 caliber semiautomatic handgun. Reaching the passenger’s side door, he repeatedly shot into the vehicle, killing 30-year-old Dinorris Alston and injuring his female companion.
The jury in the weeklong trial deliberated for almost two days before finding Jones guilty of first-degree murder, aggravated assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, and unlawful possession of a firearm. He was acquitted of armed assault with intent to murder in the shooting of the woman.
Jones was first arrested in 2013, but his first trial in June ended in a hung jury.
In a news release, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley credited civilian witnesses for stepping up “to provide evidence and testimony that was crucial to this result.”
During the trial, Assistant District Attorney Julie Higgins presented jurors with evidence and testimony that proved Alston was in the passenger’s seat and the woman behind the wheel when Jones fired into the car, hitting Alston five times and the woman once.
Still conscious but fatally wounded, the victim shifted the vehicle into gear and said “go” to the woman, who drove to a nearby gas station and called for help. Though emergency medical technicians were able to reach Alston, he soon succumbed to his injuries.
Witnesses testified that they saw Jones fleeing the area. Cell phone records also placed him in the area. During their investigation, officers also observed Jones wearing clothes that matched a description provided in a witness statement.
Jones is expected to receive the mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole at his sentencing, which has been scheduled for next Thursday, March 26.
“No verdict will return Mr. Alston to his family,” Conley said in a statement. “No sentence will undo the shock and horror suffered by the surviving victim. But I hope they take some comfort knowing that the man responsible will now answer for his crimes.”
