Massachusetts man sentenced to State Prison for murder of 32-year-old Earl Thomas

A Massachusetts man who shot and killed a man in 2019 after a fight has been sentenced to State Prison, Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy J. Cruz has announced.

On October 7, 2022, a jury convicted 32-year-old Quieto Miranda, of Brockton, of second-degree murder, Unlawful Possession of a Firearm, and Unlawful Possession of a Loaded Firearm in the 2019 shooting death of 32-year-old Earl Thomas of New Bedford.

Late yesterday, Judge Robert Gordon adopted the Commonwealth’s recommendation on sentencing for Second Degree Murder, imposing 20 years to Life in Prison. Judge Gordon imposed a concurrent 10-12 year sentence on the Firearm Possession and Armed Career Criminal charges. Miranda was previously convicted in 2016 in Plymouth Superior Court for Trafficking in Heroin, qualifying him as an Armed Career Criminal. He also received 2 1/2 years from and after his incarceration on the Firearm Possession charges for Possession of a Loaded Firearm.

On May 24, 2019, at approximately 11:26 p.m., Brockton Police were alerted to gunshots by the city’s automated gunshot detection system and received several 911 calls reporting a shooting in the vicinity of 47 Highland Street. Police and emergency medical personnel responded and found a male victim, Earl Thomas, in the parking lot suffering from four gunshot wounds. The victim was transported to Good Samaritan Hospital where he was pronounced deceased.

The Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office, Brockton Police and the Massachusetts State Police assigned to the Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office investigated the homicide, resulting in an arrest warrant for Miranda. Miranda was arrested two days later, on May 26, 2019, at the Worcester Police Department.

“I would like to commend the efforts of the Brockton Police Department and the Massachusetts State Police,” DA Cruz said. “This case would not have been solved without the community stepping up to contribute information, whether it was large or small. Brockton is a safer community every day because of efforts like we saw throughout this investigation and prosecution.”