According to a press release from the Essex district Attorney’s office, two men pled guilty and were sentenced Monday in Superior Court in Salem in relation to a homicide at a basketball tournament at the Warren Street playground in Lynn on August 24, 2019, the Office of Essex County District Attorney Paul F. Tucker announces.
The shooting killed Brandon Jesurum of Boston, who was 34 at the time of his death. Two bystanders were also wounded that day and sustained non-life-threatening injuries.
Rogelleo Morrison, 49, of Lynn, pled guilty to manslaughter, two counts of assault and battery with a firearm, and two counts of armed assault with intent to murder. The Hon. Thomas Drechsler sentenced Morrison to 13 to 15 years in state prison.
Kenneil Hammond, 37, of Lynn, also pled guilty to manslaughter, two counts of assault and battery with a firearm, and two counts of armed assault with intent to murder.
Drechsler sentenced Hammond to 11 to 13 years in state prison. Prosecutors Maria Markos and Jessica Strasnick represented the Commonwealth in both cases. Morrison was represented by attorneys Rosemary Scapicchio and Nicole Scapicchio. Hammond was represented by attorney Victoria Kelleher.
During the plea hearing today, Markos said that the day prior to Jesurum’s shooting death, a physical altercation involving Morrison’s son took place in Morrison’s home, during which Jesurum pulled out a gun. In delivering the sentences, Drechsler told the defendants that attempting to take the law into one’s own hands is not a good idea and called the playground shooting a “tragic and unfortunate event.”
