Fall River man facing new indictments, held without bail in murder of Jessenia Simmons of New Bedford

A recently indicted murder defendant for a homicide which occurred this May in Fall River was arraigned this week in Fall River Superior Court and ordered held without bail, Bristol County District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn III announced.

Angelo Leo, 33, of Fall River, was indicted by a Bristol County Grand Jury on August 31 on charges of Murder, Carrying an Illegal Firearm, Assault with a Dangerous Weapon, Malicious Damage to a Motor Vehicle and two counts of Violating an Abuse Prevention Order.

On May 29, 2023, Fall River Police responded to the Globe Car Wash on Broadway after receiving a 911 call at 12:36 p.m. regarding a potential shooting.

When first responders arrived on scene, they found the victim, Jessenia Simmons, 45, of New Bedford, already deceased in one of the car wash bays.

The defendant initially fled from the scene of the shooting in a vehicle but turned himself in to police in Tiverton, RI about a half-hour later.

Leo is accused of sending threatening text messages to Simmons before a confrontation in the bay of the car wash. Video surveillance allegedly shows the two in an altercation before Leo stabbed the victim. When she attempted to escape, she was allegedly shot by Leo.

Both Leo and Simmons had a previous romantic relationship according to friends and she had recently renewed a restraining order against Leo.

Leo was arraigned on the new indictments this morning in Fall River Superior Court and is due back in court for a pretrial hearing on October 24. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys Gilian Kirsch and Kaitlyn O’Leary.