A man who shot and killed a young mother during his Facebook Live stream will spend the rest of his life in prison.
JACKSON, MI – A man who shot and killed a young mother during his Facebook Live stream will spend the rest of his life in prison.
After about three-and-a-half hours of deliberations, Monday March 26, a jury convicted Anthony Gelia of one count each of first-degree felony murder, first-degree home invasion and felony firearms for shooting the death of 26-year-old Brittany Southwell.
Jurors concluded Gelia, 20, kicked in the door of a house in the 400 block of Jefferson Street in Jackson on election night, Nov. 8,2016, and fired several shots inside the home, one of which struck and killed Southwell.
Gelia looked down at the floor as the verdict was read aloud.
« We’re pleased the family finally has the justice they have been waiting for, » Prosecutor Jerry Jarzynka said after the verdict. « With the type of evidence we had in this case, the social media, we’ll probably never see something like this again. »
Gelia is scheduled to be sentenced at 9 a.m., May 9 before Circuit Judge John McBain. A felony murder conviction carries with it a mandatory life sentence without the possibility of parole.
Defense attorney Andrew Kirkpatrick successfully argued to have the optional charge of involuntary manslaughter, which is punishable by up to 15 years in prison, added to the jury instructions before deliberations began on Monday.
The prosecution attempted to block its introduction, arguing no rational jury could find Gelia not guilty of at least second-degree murder.
Holding a large portrait of Southwell, Jarzynka asked the jury to find Gelia guilty of first-degree murder during his closing argument.
« Brittany Southwell did not know she was going to die on social media, » Jarzynka said. « We almost always have to rely on circumstantial evidence for state of mind, but in this case we have direct evidence to look into his mind, the live stream video he took 20 minutes before he broke into that house. »
Jurors, many of whom appeared to be shocked by what they were watching, saw the 25-minute Facebook Live video, Friday, March 23.
The video shows Gelia making threatening remarks about police, passing motorists and people watching the stream, challenging them to come fight him all while he waves a handgun in front of the screen.
Near the end of the video, it shows Gelia kick in the door of the house and enter. Jurors couldn’t see what happened next, as the recording was moving quickly, but they could hear several gunshots and screams alongside Gelia’s voice.
« He intended to kill someone that night, » Jarzynka said.
The defense disagreed with the prosecution, arguing there was never a clear intent to kill and if the intent did exist, Gelia had multiple opportunities to kill someone while he was in the house.
« He deserves to be punished, but not for murder. This was involuntary manslaughter, » Kirkpatrick said. « Brittany was behind a door he didn’t know she was behind when he fired. The video we saw was appalling but match up his words versus his actions. His actions are illegal, not his words. »
Prosecutors again disagreed, stating nothing he did inside the house was an involuntary action.
« Involuntary manslaughter does not fit this crime, » Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Katie Hawkins said. « He wasn’t playing with the gun and it went off. He didn’t drop it and it fired nine times. There wasn’t a struggle with the gun and it went off. He intended to kill. »
Southwell died from a single gunshot wound shortly after being taken to Henry Ford Allegiance Health for treatment. She was holding her infant child when she was shot, witnesses said.
To read all the stories related to the shooting, click here.
