True Crime
A Brockton jury convicted Brendan Fernandes of first-degree murder in the Brima Koroma shooting. Destiny Fontes-Silie was convicted as an accessory.
On Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026, a Plymouth County jury found Brendan Fernandes, 37, of Brockton guilty of first-degree murder and firearm counts in the March 15, 2022, shooting death of Brima Koroma, 24. Destiny Fontes-Silie, 30, of Warwick, R.I., was convicted of accessory after the fact. Sentencing is set for Oct. 8.
By Crime Talk Network Staff Writer ·
A first-degree murder conviction in Massachusetts carries a mandatory life sentence without parole once the court enters judgment. An accessory-after-the-fact conviction is a separate, lesser offense tied to helping after the killing. NBC 10 / WJAR and the Plymouth County District Attorney's Office reported the dual verdicts after a Brockton Superior Court trial.
A Brockton Superior Court jury on Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026, convicted Brendan Fernandes, 37, of first-degree murder, unlawful possession of a firearm, and unlawful possession of ammunition without a firearm identification card in the March 15, 2022, shooting death of Brima Koroma, 24, according to NBC 10 (WJAR) and the Plymouth County District Attorney's Office. Destiny Fontes-Silie, 30, of Warwick, Rhode Island, was convicted of accessory after the fact to murder. Both are scheduled for sentencing Oct. 8, 2026.
Prosecutors said Brockton police answered multiple 911 calls near 401 East Street and found Koroma with a single gunshot wound to the chest; he died at Brockton Hospital. Fall River Reporter, citing NBC 10 Boston trial coverage, said Koroma was a door-to-door solar salesperson who approached Fernandes while Fernandes worked on a vehicle, that witnesses described Fernandes yelling threats and claiming turf, and that Fernandes followed Koroma and shot him after Koroma put his hands up.
Arrest warrants issued after the investigation led to Virginia State Police apprehending Fernandes and Fontes-Silie the next day in Chesterfield, Virginia, the district attorney's office said. Massachusetts State Police and Brockton police investigated. A first-degree murder conviction is a guilt finding that, under Massachusetts law as commonly reported, leads to life without parole at sentencing; the accessory count is a separate charge resolved by the same jury. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
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