A man convicted of murder after a deadly shooting in a Massachusetts mall in 2022 was sentenced Thursday to life in prison.
Dijoun Beasley, a 26-year-old from Boston's Dorchester neighborhood, was fatally shot at South Shore Plaza in Braintree on Jan. 22, 2022.
Julius Hammond-Desir of Maynard, who was 19 at the time, was arrested on a murder charge. The Norfolk County District Attorney's Office said Tuesday that a jury had convicted him of first-degree murder, unlawfully carrying a firearm and unlawfully carrying a loaded firearm.
Prosecutors said Hammond-Desir killed Beasley after encountering him in the Forever 21 store. Surveillance video showed a brief exhange between the two inside the store and the shooting itself. Hammond-Desire was also seen on video fleeing the mall while holding what appeared to be a gun in his waistband.
The mall was evacuated and those still inside were ordered to shelter in place until it was safe to come out.
Beasley was shot in the head and died a day later.
The district attorney's office said Hammond-Desir was sentenced Thursday to a mandatory term of life in prison with the possibility of parole after 25 years on the murder charge. He was sentenced to another 5 years on related firearms charges.
