One of two men accused of shooting a man 13 times, killing him, outside a restaurant in Woburn, Massachusetts, in December 2020 has been found guilty at trial, prosecutors said Friday.
Pauliasky Jean-Francois, a 38-year-old from Plymouth, was convicted in Middlesex Superior Court on charges of first-degree murder, assault with a dangerous weapon and carrying a gun without a license, the Middlesex District Attorney's Office and Woburn police said in a statement.
The shooting outside Jake n JOES Sports Grille on the night of Dec. 12, 2020, left 26-year-old Lloyd Borgella, of Roslindale, dead. Another man, Eric Mills, has also been charged with murder and assault with a dangerous weapon in Borgella's killing; his case is ongoing.
The shooting was Woburn's first homicide in about 10 years, officials said at the time.
Authorities say the two men waited outside the restaurant for Borgella to come out — he'd been on a first date — and rushed up to him, opened fire and fled.
Jean-Francois was later found walking on Alfred Street, and told investigators he'd run off after being shot at, but they found that he'd jumped into a car after the shooting, sped away and crashed into a tree less than half a mile from the restaurant, officials said. Surveillance video later showed that he was a shooter, not a victim; other evidence connected him to the case as well.
"When Mr. Borgella stepped outside, the defendant opened fire in the public parking lot of the busy restaurant. While the victim in this case was struck 13 times, over 20 rounds were actually fired in rapid fashion," said District Attorney Marian Ryan said in a statement. "This increasing use of firearms to gun people down and create enormous public safety risks cannot be tolerated."
