Pittsfield — The Berkshire District Attorney’s Office announced on Thursday, September 22 that it had obtained two guilty verdicts in the murder case of 18-year-old Jaden Salois. The case goes back to 2019.
After a two week trial, Pittsfield residents Chiry Omar Pascual-Polanco, 26, and Carlos Pascual-Polanco, 22, were both found guilty of murder in the first degree, two counts of possession of a firearm without a Firearm Identification, two counts of possession of ammunition without Firearm Identification, and possession of marijuana with intent to distribute.
According to a press release issued by the office, an investigation uncovered that, back in 2019, the brothers operated a marijuana distribution operation through a fake social media account and used that to lure Salois, of Dalton, from an Edward Avenue home in Pittsfield.
The two shot him and the brothers proceeded to use methods in order to try to avoid prosecution.
Police arrested the brothers in April 2019, and the state called more than 30 witnesses during the trial that proved that the pair acted premeditatedly in orchestrating the murder.
Judge Douglas Wilkins will schedule sentencing for a later date. First-degree murder convictions carry a life sentence without the possibility of parole.
A third co-defendant, Dasean Smith, 24 of Pittsfield, is also charged with murder and will be tried separately.
