A Suffolk County prosecutor today told 16 Superior Court jurors that a convenience store surveillance system captured 19-year-old Tyrice Brown’s murder on camera and that the defendant, when confronted with that evidence, not only admitted to the fatal shooting but even said why he killed the man.

“Ladies and gentlemen, unbeknownst to the defendant, the 24 Seven convenience store had a surveillance system,” Assistant District Attorney Amy Galatis said during opening statements in the first-degree murder trial of JOSE DELACRUZ (D.O.B. 9/7/85). “This entire incident was captured on video, and you’re going to see this video.”

Galatis told jurors that Brown was sitting on an icebox at the 651 Warren Street shop shortly before 3:00 a.m. on Feb. 8, 2007, chatting with another person in the store.

“A third man came in, took several items to the register, and began to pay,” Galatis said. Instead of completing the sale, however, Delacruz allegedly left abruptly.

“You’re going to hear evidence that he was in the store for less than a minute,” Galatis said. “Two minutes later, he returned. He entered the store and shot Tyrice Brown four times at close range.”

Those shots, Galatis said, broke Brown’s arm, penetrated his shoulder and lung, severed an artery in his torso, and crashed through his chest, causing injuries that claimed his life in a matter of minutes.

In the course of a Suffolk County Grand Jury investigation, prosecutors and Boston Police homicide detectives identified the shooter depicted in the store surveillance footage. On March 27, 2007, Delacruz was apprehended in Wilmington, Delaware. In the taped interview with Boston Police that followed, Galatis said, Delacruz “calmly and rationally answered their questions.”

“You’re going to hear it in his own words,” Galatis told jurors of Delacruz’ statements, in which he allegedly admitted to shooting Brown because he believed Brown had shot him a month before the homicide. “You’re going to hear, with precision, the who, the what, the where, the why, and the how of the deliberate commission of Tyrice Brown’s murder.”

Prosecution testimony is under way in courtroom 914 of Suffolk Superior Court. Delacruz is represented by attorney Robert Griffin.