New Bedford and Fall River Men Convicted of Taunton Murder

FALL RIVER (WBSM) — A Fall River man and a New Bedford man have been convicted for the 2019 murder of Justin Paulo in Taunton.

According to Bristol County District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn III, the two men – Jerome Middleton of Fall River and Khaylon Cruz of New Bedford – were convicted Thursday of first degree murder (under theories of extreme atrocity and cruelty and felony murder) and armed robbery after a six-day jury trial.

“I am pleased the jury held both defendants accountable for this senseless and brutal killing,” District Attorney Quinn said.

The two are scheduled to be sentenced on November 20.

The charges date back to January 5, 2019 when at about 11 p.m., Taunton Police were dispatched to 9 Wilson Street for a man being attacked in the yard. He was identified as Justin Paulo, 31, who had been stabbed and robbed of his gold chain.

Paulo was transported from the scene by family members and later pronounced deceased a short time later at arriving at Rhode Island Hospital.

The D.A.’s Office said surveillance footage from a Ring doorbell camera at 9 Wilson Street “captured significant portions of the attack committed by two suspects” later determined to be Cruz, who was 24 at the time, and Middleton, who was 19.

READ MORE: New Bedford, Fall River Men Arrested in Taunton Murder

Both men fled the scene but later reconnected at Charlton Memorial Hospital in Fall River, where Middleton went for medical treatment for injuries sustained during the attack on Paulo. The two then left the hospital together.

A knife was recovered from the scene of the crime that contained the DNA of both Paulo and Middleton.

Four days after the murder, Middleton was apprehended in Brockton and Cruz was arrested at the Dartmouth Motor Inn in Dartmouth.