Man sentenced to prison in Fall River Superior Court concerning fatal shooting of Angel Cruz where suspect also allegedly fired at police with stolen gun

Bristol County District Attorney Thomas Quinn, III, has announced the First-Degree Murder conviction of a 23-year-old man after a jury trial in the Fall River Superior Court. 

Jurors returned guilty verdicts yesterday against Jon Zell of Mattapoisett for First Degree Murder, Assault and Battery with a Dangerous Weapon causing Serious Bodily Injury, three counts of Assault to Murder, Firearms charges, and Larceny from a Building. 

Zell was sentenced by the Honorable Raffi Yessayan to serve a State Prison sentence of fifty years to life. Due to the defendants age at the time of the murder, he was sentenced as a Mattis defendant. The Mattis case found that life sentences without parole for emerging adults, individuals between the ages of eighteen and twenty years old, were unconstitutional.  This case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys Dennis Collins and Jose Vazquez. 

On November 27, 2020, at approximately 10:21 a.m., Zell, who was 18 years old, walked to the area of 12 Lafrance Court in New Bedford with a loaded 9mm Glock firearm that he had stolen from his father’s bedroom the previous night in Mattapoisett.  Once at 12 Lafrance Court, the defendant opened fire on two men who were working on a car in that area.  The two victims were not known to the defendant.  Zell shot and killed 40-year-old Angel Cruz who died from a single gunshot wound.  The defendant also shot 32-year-old Wilfredo Balestier 7 times.  Upon being shot, Balestier attempted to drive away from the scene but was unable to do so due to his injuries.  He was transported to Rhode Island Hospital and survived life-threatening injuries. 

New Bedford Police were dispatched to the area of the shooting and were able to identify a suspect from a neighbor’s cell phone video that showed Zell leaving the scene. At approximately 11:09 a.m., officers located Zell, who fit the description of the suspect, at the intersection of Penniman and Reynolds Street.  When Officers approached him and ordered him to show his hands, he took a firearm from his waistband and started shooting at the officers.  After using all of his ammunition, Zell dropped the gun to the pavement and was placed in handcuffs by the police.  The two officers were not injured from the multiple rounds that were fired at them.   Further investigation revealed that Zell was in possession of the stolen firearm the previous night when he visited friends and took photographs of himself holding the firearm.  The firearm was recovered and identified as the gun belonging to the Zell’s father. 

Zell, at trial, put forth a defense that he lacked criminal responsibility at the time of the shootings through an expert witness.  The Commonwealth rebutted that defense with testimony of a licensed forensic psychologist from Bridgewater State Hospital who testified that Zell was a malingerer, had an antisocial personality disorder which does not qualify as a mental illness, and was criminally responsible for his actions on November 27, 2020.  

During sentencing, the Court indicated that the defendant had been convicted of carrying out two mass shootings on November 27, 2020, and acknowledged the restraint shown by police in not firing back at Zell while in a congested residential neighborhood during the incident. 

” I am very pleased that the jury rejected the defendant’s claim of lack of criminal responsibility for the violent murder and assaults on the victims, including two police officers. Despite a history of mental health issues, the evidence established that the defendant was purposeful in his conduct that led to a violent rampage in broad daylight. The life sentence with parole eligibility of fifty years imposed by the court is appropriate.”, District Attorney Tom Quinn said.

At the time of the shooting, a GoFundMe fundraiser raised over $4,000 for Ortiz’s service.