The man who fatally shot a Codman Square gas station attendant during an armed robbery on Oct. 6, 2018, received a life sentence without parole on June 30 in a Boston courtroom on June 30.
Jerron Perry, 33, of Canton, was convicted two days earlier for the murder of 67-year-old Jose Williams, who was killed around 11:30 p.m. while at work at Fabian Gas on Washington Street, at the corner of Melville Avenue. Prosecutors said Perry shot Williams in the chest even after he complied with Perry’s demand to hand over cash.
Prosecutors said that he was responsible for a spree of armed robberies in and around Boston at the time and a Suffolk Superior Court jury agreed and found him guilty of first-degree murder along with numerous armed robberies and numerous weapons charges.
In rendering his sentence, Judge Mary Ames said the murder was “senseless because there’s no reason, no reason at all that Mr. Williams had to die.
“These are the types of crimes,” she said, “the armed, masked robberies of small business owners, people who are working every day to make our city better…that destroy the very fabric of a community. And they’re meant to.”
Williams’s grandniece read a victim impact statement at the sentencing written by his sister.
“He was the heart of our family—always smiling, laughing and dancing. His infectious joy could light up any room, and he was beloved by everyone in our community,” the statement said.
“The holidays feel hollow without his laughter filling our home. Family gatherings are marked by an empty chair and the silence where his music and dancing used to bring us all together.”
Addressing the defendant directly, Judge Ames said: “Mr. Perry, your family will never be the same, and I’ve seen the pain on your mother’s face. She’s clearly a loving, kind, wonderful woman, and I’ve seen the pain. The pain that you cause her for what—a few hundred bucks? You had choices, sir.”
Police initially arrested a different individual as their suspect in the case — a 21-year-old Dorchester man. Charges against him were later dropped after evidence linking Perry to the crime emerged.
–REPORTER STAFF
