Image created on Canva.com
MILFORD — Was Jacob Freeman an assassin lying in wait who shot a man to death on Anson Street in Derby or the victim of a ‘jailhouse rat’ seeking revenge?
The competing descriptions come from the closing statements on Monday by the prosecution and the defense in the murder trial of Jacob ‘Jewla’ Freeman.
The 28- year-old Ansonia resident is accused of murdering 21-year-old Jajuan Benavides in the middle of the night on Aug. 11, 2017.
The case went to a jury of nine women and two men on Monday (June 24). No verdict was returned, and the jury is scheduled to continue deliberating on Tuesday morning (June 25).
Police and prosecutors allege that Freeman and Benavides were enemies, and that the two argued on Anson Street at about 11:30 pm on Aug. 10 while a bunch of people were hanging out on the street.
That argument seemed to end with a positive resolution, as an eyewitness testified that the two shook hands.
Authorities allege that Freeman arrived back on Anson Street at 1:22 a.m. with Rhameir Bush, the alleged getaway driver who is facing separate charges.
Freeman and Bush allegedly parked around the corner from Anson Street. Then Freeman carefully crept up on Benavides, who was still hanging out on a ground-level porch looking at cell phone photos with two female friends, according to an arrest warrant and witness testimony.
Freeman allegedly chased Benavides down Anson Street toward the Cicia Manor apartments, hitting him three times after firing multiple shots. Benavides died after emergency surgery at Bridgeport Hospital.
During closing arguments, Senior Assistant State’s Attorney Marc Durso said cell phone data put Freeman and Bush in the area of Anson Street twice: once during the 11:30 p.m. argument with Benavides, which was corroborated by eyewitnesses who testified, and then around the time of the shooting.
“The defendant had a plan,” Durso said, saying the handshake at 11:30 pm was part of Freeman’s plan to lull Benavides into complacency so that he could return later for the sneak attack.
Durso said surveillance images showed a man police said was Freeman around the corner heading toward Anson Street in the minutes leading up to the shooting.
A police detective testified that the clothes worn by Freeman in social media posts matched the clothes worn in the surveillance videos.
The two women who were with Benavides when he was attacked were not able to identify Freeman as the shooter. They testified the shooter was dressed in dark clothes and wearing a mask.
However, they testified they heard Benavides say ‘Chill, Jacob, chill’ as he was being chased.
During the trial, which started June 17, the jury was read a transcript of prior testimony from Desi Williams, a convicted felon who testified with the hope of getting a lighter sentence on federal gun charges.
Williams lived next to Freeman on Lester Street in Ansonia. Williams said that Freeman came to his house immediately after the shooting and confessed to the crime, also relaying that Benavides said ‘Chill, Jacob, chill’ before he was shot.
Durso said Williams had info on the case that could only be obtained by talking to Freeman.
The evidence as a whole proves Freeman’s plan to ‘assassinate’ Benavides, Durso said.
During his closing argument, Walter Hussey, Freeman’s lawyer, said the state’s case was built on supposition and important witnesses who lacked credibility.
He said the two women who were with Benavides gave different accounts of the shooting. Hussey said the evidence showed Benavides fired a weapon while being chased – and he fired it from the spot where a witness said she was standing. Yet the woman said she did not know whether Benavides was armed nor if he fired a gun.
He said both witnesses – who did not cooperate with the investigation for years – said they did not see that Benavides was chased off Anson Street and onto the grounds of Cicia Manor, even though police found a shell casing there.
And while both previously said they heard Benavides say “Chill, chill:” they waited until testifying in open court seven years after the murder to add “Jacob” to the sentence. Hussey hinted the two may have gotten their stories straight while having lunch during the first day of court.
“It didn’t happen the way the girls said,” Hussey told the jury.
Hussey called Williams a “jailhouse rat” out to get a good deal for crimes he committed. He noted Williams could not provide the date Freeman allegedly confessed, and Hussey alleged Williams had followed media coverage of the case. Hussey said Williams also admitted to being angry at Freeman for an unspecified insult. He said anger could have motivated his testimony.
Hussey said police could only make an arrest with the use of Williams, an informant with a long criminal record.
“And he’s to be trusted? Really?” Hussey asked.
The prosecution entered a clip from a music video Freeman made into evidence. Police and prosecutors said the lyrics contain hints to the crime, talking about creeping up on a person in the “A” (Anson Street).
Hussey pointed out a recording engineer testified the song was created about a month before Benavides was killed.
Durso rebutted that the recording engineer was a friend of Freeman’s, and that the lyrics “added insult to injury.”
“It’s just ironic that the lyrics in the rap video explain how Jajuan was killed,” Durso said.
Durso also said that while Williams has a criminal record, his statements in the Freeman case have remained consistent, and that he identified clothes authorities believe Freeman was wearing during the shooting.
Regarding the details of the testimony the two women provided, Durso pointed out it was a chaotic scene, to say the least.
“It doesn’t mean Jajuan wasn’t shot. It doesn’t mean Jajuan wasn’t hunted down like a dog,” Durso said.
The jury started deliberating at 2 p.m. Monday. At 3:35 p.m. the jury asked for a transcript of the music video, along with a PowerPoint presentation the prosecution used during closing arguments.
However, since neither of the items were entered into evidence, the judge said the jury could not be provided with the items.
Court ended at 4:48 p.m., with Judge Eliot D. Prescott asking the jury to return by 9:30 a.m. Tuesday (June 25).
