MILFORD, Conn. — Ansonia resident Jacob “Jewla” Freeman, 28, was sentenced to 48 years in prison on Monday in Milford for the 2017 murder of Jajuan Benavides in Derby, according to a release from the state’s Division of Criminal Justice.
Freeman’s imprisonment will be followed by five years of special parole, DCJ said.
Freeman was found guilty of murder on June 25, stemming from the shooting death of Benavides, 21, on Anson Street in Derby on Aug. 11, 2017.
At trial, evidence revealed that around 1:48 a.m. that morning, an individual dressed in all black and wearing a mask chased Benavides down on Anson Street, shooting him three times. Surveillance footage and call detail records note that on Aug. 10, 2017, around 11:30 p.m., Freeman was in the area of Anson and 6th Streets and interacted with Benavides.
Prosecutors added that Freeman was then seen leaving the area around 11:55 p.m. About a year-and-a-half after the shooting, a jailhouse witness gave authorities numerous details regarding the murder, including that Freeman told him he returned to Anson Street wearing a mask and shot Benavides.
The witness told investigators that Freeman said that as he shot the victim, he “stood over him and let him have it,” according to prosecutors, who said Freeman watched as Benavides fell to the ground.
The witness said Freeman told him that Benavides pleaded “chill Jewla chill."
He added that Freeman was wearing black pants, a black hoodie and a mask when the crime was committed.
The witness refused to testify at trial, but his prior testimony at an earlier probable cause hearing regarding the murder was admitted at this trial, prosecutors say.
Prosecutors said that a total of 12 witnesses testified for the State, including three witnesses to the crime. They indicated what they saw that night. Another resident of the area testified to what she heard at the time of the murder.
The State was successful in admitting into evidence a rap video made and posted on social media by Freeman one month after the murder of Benavides, where he makes specific admissions about how the shooting occurred in his lyrics.
It took the Superior Court jury less than a day to deliberate and reach its verdict.
On Monday, Senior Assistant State’s Attorney Marc Durso asked the judge for a prison sentence that would send a message to others that gun violence will be severely punished and referred to a sentencing report prepared by probation officials that said Freeman was a high risk to offend again.
“Essentially, this was an assassination,” Durso said, while describing how Freeman hunted down Benavides after lying in wait for him and fired multiple shots as the victim attempted to run away.
“No amount of time is enough to bring Jajuan back... This is a life sentence [Benavides'] family has to live with, and I think the penalty should reflect the equivalent for Mr. Freeman,” Durso said.
The Honorable Judge Eliot Prescott, who sentenced Freeman, described the murder as a “planned attack.”
“This didn’t happen in the blink of an eye. This was planned. You left the Anson Street area, you went somewhere else, you came back, and you executed him,” Prescott said. “That’s calculated. That’s cold.”
----
Dalton Zbierski is a digital content producer and writer at FOX61 News. He can be reached at dzbierski@FOX61.com.
----
Do you have a story idea or something on your mind you want to share? We want to hear from you! Email us at newstips@fox61.com.
----
HERE ARE MORE WAYS TO GET FOX61 NEWS
Download the FOX61 News APP
iTunes: Click here to download
Google Play: Click here to download
Stream Live on ROKU: Add the channel from the ROKU store or by searching FOX61.
Steam Live on FIRE TV: Search ‘FOX61’ and click ‘Get’ to download.
