Charges against suspect in MetroPCS homicide upgraded to murder

Bristol County District Attorney Tom Quinn announced this morning that charges against 36-year-old Jason Valliere in connection to the Thursday afternoon homicide of Javon Brown in the City of New Bedford have been upgraded to murder.

Mr. Valliere, of 84 Fredericks St., New Bedford will be arraigned later this morning in New Bedford District Court.

Investigators were rapidly able to gather enough evidence to obtain a warrant for Mr. Valliere’s arrest less than 12 hours after the homicide occurred. Police actively sought Mr. Valliere beginning Thursday evening. He was arrested and initially charged with being an Accessory to Murder-After the Fact late Friday night after coming to the New Bedford Police Station.

New Bedford Police, Massachusetts State Police Detectives assigned to this office and Homicide Unit prosecutors continue to actively investigate the homicide this weekend, and no further information can be disseminated about the facts of the case or the investigation until Mr. Valliere is arraigned in open court today.

“The fact that this homicide was solved so quickly is a testament to the team work displayed by prosecutors from my office, New Bedford Police Detectives and Massachusetts State Police Detectives from my office. The great working relationships this office has forged with local police departments is a major reason for the high homicide-solve rate we have all seen during recent years,” District Attorney Quinn. “I want to commend all the investigators in this case for their hard work around the clock to quickly bring charges in this case. The public has a basic human right to feel safe in their homes, at their work places and in the community, and my office will continue to work tirelessly to make sure anyone who violates our citizens’ public safety with a brazen act of violence like this will be apprehended as quickly as possible.”

Police received a 911 call regarding a shooting at the MetroPCS cellular phone store at 209 Coggeshall Street around 12:30 p.m. Thursday. Upon arrival, police and rescue personnel located a male shooting victim in the area near the parking lot outside the store. The victim, who resides in Dartmouth, was rushed to St. Luke’s Hospital where he was pronounced dead at 1:12 p.m. Thursday.

The investigation is being coordinated by Assistant District Attorneys Dennis Collins, Chief of District Attorney Quinn’s Homicide Unit and Katie Rayburn, Deputy Chief of District Attorney Quinn’s Homicide Unit. Mr. Collins will handle this morning’s arraignment.

Anyone who was in the area of Coggeshall Street and Belleville Avenue between noon and 1 p.m. Thursday and may have seen anything connected to this incident is urged to contact New Bedford Police’s Detectives Division at 508-991-6300. If individuals wish to remain anonymous, they can call New Bedford Police’s anonymous tip line at 508-961-4584, or utilize the district attorney’s anonymous text-a-tip program by either logging on to tipsubmit.com or by texting the phrase “CALL50” to the phone number 274637 (which spells CRIMES).