No Bail for Alleged Gunman in Murder Case

The man who pulled a gun on Revere’s Joseph Morante, Jr., during a July 31 robbery pulled the trigger even though he faced no resistance from the store clerk.

Elosko Brown, 27, of Brockton, was arraigned in Roxbury District Court Monday on charges of murder, armed robbery, and unlawful possession of a firearm, all in connection with Morante’s shooting death outside the Roxbury electronics store where Morante worked. At the request of Assistant District Attorney Edmond Zabin, Brown was ordered held without bail pending trial.

“Everything we know about Joseph Morante suggested promise,” DA Dan Conley said. “At just 19, he was on the cusp of adulthood. He was in love and worked at a job he enjoyed. He had friends and family and colleagues who adored him. He had a good life ahead of him, but everything he might have been was snuffed out for no reason at all by one man with a gun.”

Zabin told the court that Morante was working at the iWorld Accessories shop on Tremont Street in Roxbury when Brown walked into the otherwise empty store shortly before 1:30 p.m. After a brief interaction between the two, Zabin said, Morante went behind a counter at the rear of the store.

Brown allegedly waited a moment, then walked over to the counter and produced a gun. Morante put his hands up and offered no resistance, but Brown allegedly shot him in the torso nonetheless.

“We believe this was a completely unprovoked shooting,” Conley said. “It never should have happened.”

Mortally wounded, Morante ran past the defendant and out of the store, making it to the corner of Cunard Street before he collapsed. Meanwhile, Brown allegedly stole a quantity of cell phones and other electronics before fleeing on foot.

Morante was rushed to Boston Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead of his injuries.

The investigation has been active since that afternoon, Zabin said, with Boston Police homicide detectives gathering video surveillance from Morante’s shop and other businesses in the area – including surveillance images released to the public in September. Criminalists scoured the crime scene for trace evidence and prosecutors began eliciting testimony from witnesses and potential witnesses in the Suffolk County Grand Jury. Those efforts came to a head on Saturday, when prosecutors approved a warrant for Brown’s arrest.

Members of the Boston Police Youth Violence Strike Force and Brockton Police arrested Brown at a Brockton residence yesterday morning.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.