BOSTON, Dec. 11, 2018—A Suffolk Superior Court jury today convicted a Dorchester man of murdering 21-year-old Joey DeBarros during a traffic altercation on Gallivan Boulevard last year, District Attorney John P. Pappas said.

On their first full day of deliberations, jurors found DEONARINE GANGA, 31, guilty of first-degree murder and unlawful possession of a firearm in connection with the April 13, 2017, shooting that claimed DeBarros’ life. He faces a mandatory life term when he is sentenced tomorrow.

“This should have been nothing more than a traffic dispute,” Pappas said. “Instead, the evidence showed, this defendant chose to end the argument with a barrage of gunfire that killed Joey DeBarros and devastated his family. I hope they can find some measure of comfort knowing that so many witnesses came forward to tell investigators what they saw and heard, leading to this result.”

During about a week of testimony, Assistant District Attorneys John Verner and Kathryn Leary introduced evidence and testimony proving that Ganga fired multiple shots from the passenger’s seat of a Chrysler 200, killing DeBarros, after a chance encounter and verbal exchange in traffic near the intersection of Gallivan Boulevard and Granite Avenue.

From eyewitness reports, video footage, and other evidence, Boston Police homicide detectives identified the car from which Ganga fired the fatal rounds. That soon led to Ganga himself, who matched the physical and clothing description of the gunman. Cell tower records placed him at the scene at the time of the shooting. A search warrant executed at his residence yielded home security footage of him with a rigid, angular object – which prosecutors argued was the murder weapon – in his pants pocket about half an hour after the shooting. A search warrant there yielded an open box of PMZ .40 caliber ammunition that was identical to a spent shell casing found in the car.

Jennifer Sears was the DA’s assigned victim-witness advocate. Ganga was represented by attorney Kelli Porges. Judge Christine Roach will sentence him tomorrow at 11:30 am in courtroom 906.

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All defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.