Contact: Beth Stone
508-584-8120
BROCKTON – A man has been convicted on charges that he shot and killed a man inside a Brockton bar, Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy J. Cruz has announced.
After a six-day trial in Brockton Superior Court, a jury deliberated approximately six hours before finding Kierft Noel (DOB: 05/29/91) guilty late yesterday of one count each of First Degree Murder, Unlawful Possession of a Loaded Firearm and Possession of a Loaded Firearm Without a License. Judge Brian A. Davis sentenced Noel to serve Life in Prison without the possibility of parole, five years in State Prison to be served concurrent with the life sentence, and 2 ½ years in the House of Correction to be served consecutive with the five years in State Prison.
At approximately 12:28 pm on April 11, 2014, Brockton Police responded to a 911 call for a report that a person had been shot inside the Lithuanian Family Restaurant, known as The Lit Restaurant. at 128 Ames Street. Emergency personnel and Brockton Police responded to the scene, along with State Police Detectives assigned to the Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office. The male victim, later identified as Elson G. Miranda (DOB: 8/27/92) of Brockton, suffered multiple gunshot wounds to the neck and chest. Miranda was transported to Signature Healthcare Hospital where he was pronounced dead of his injuries. The Office of the State Medical Examiner determined that Miranda’s cause of death was from gunshot wounds and the manner of death was ruled a homicide.
At trial, jurors heard from numerous witnesses who were patrons at The Lit restaurant on the day of the shooting. They all testified that they saw a black man enter the rear door of The Lit with his face covered, walk directly over to Elson Miranda and shoot him twice. Witnesses further testified that they saw the shooter exit the rear door of The Lit, hop a fence and get into a gray Nissan getaway car located two doors down.
Through the course of the investigation, police collected surveillance footage from various locations around The Lit, both inside and outside of the building on the day of the shooting. The footage showed that the car that fled the scene was a gray 2003 Nissan Maxima. Police also collected evidence outside the bar of tire tracks and sneaker impressions, as well as saliva found the ground. Police determined that Noel’s mother owed the gray 4-door Nissan
getaway car, and, in a search of the residence, police found Noel owned sneakers that matched the imprints found near the scene.
Noel’s whereabouts were unknown from moments after the shooting until April 29, 2014, when he was apprehended on an outstanding drug warrant. In interviews with police, Noel confirmed the sneakers were his and that he was driving his mother’s car near the vicinity of The Lit at the time of the shooting. Noel also told investigators that he and the victim previously knew each other and had multiple confrontations in the past.
Assistant District Attorney Jeremy Beth Kusmin and Shanan Buckingham prosecuted the case, which was investigated by State Police Detectives assigned to the Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office and Brockton Police.
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