Michigan man, bags LIFE jail sentence after livestreaming his shooting of a woman – Anthony Gelia shot Brittany Southwell, live on Facebook Live in November 2016
Anthony Gelia was sentenced Wednesday to life in prison without parole for a murder he livestreamed on social media
Gelia, 20 from Michigan shot the 26-year-old woman dead, on Facebook Live
He was convicted in March of first-degree murder and other charges stemming from the November 2016 killing of Brittany Southwell
Jurors watched a Facebook Live recording recovered from Gelia’s cellphone showing him kicking in a door and opening fire
Gelia was accused of kicking in the door to the home on election night, Nov. 8, 2016, and fired several shots inside the home
A single shot struck and killed Southwell, who was holding her infant child
He was charged with one count each of open murder, first-degree home invasion and felony firearms
Anthony Gelia appears in Jackson County Circuit Court during a sentence hearing in Jackson, Michigan, on Wednesday, May 9, 2018. Gelia was found guilty in the 2016 shooting death of Brittany Southwell, 26, where he streamed the shooting on Facebook Live
A Michigan man convicted of murder after he was accused of breaking into a home and shooting a woman while livestreaming the attack on Facebook has been sentenced to life in prison without parole.
20-year-old Anthony Gelia was given the mandatory punishment Wednesday.
He was convicted in March of first-degree murder and other charges stemming from the November 2016 killing of 26-year-old Brittany Southwell.
Jurors watched a Facebook Live recording recovered from Gelia’s cellphone showing him kicking in a door and opening fire.
Anthony Gelia was charged with open murder in the Election Night shooting death of Brittany Southwell on Jefferson Street in Jackson, MI.
Gelia has been sentenced to life in prison without parole for the killing of Southwell, Members of the jury watched a Facebook Live recording from Gelia’s cellphone
A Facebook Live video authorities say captured the events leading up to, and partially including, the shooting death of a young Jackson mother was recently recovered and is being allowed at trial.
The defense strived strenuously to exclude the video from the proceedings.
However, during a last-minute court hearing on Monday, March 19, Circuit Judge John McBain agreed to allow the 25-minute recording recently discovered by prosecutors who say it was made by Gelia, who was on trial for the murder of 26-year-old Brittany Southwell.
Brittany Southwell was a stay-at-home mother. By the the time she passed away on the night of Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2016 she shared an 8-year-old son, 6-year-old daughter and 7-month-old son with fiance Tyler McCravey
Gelia says he didn’t mean to hurt anyone. But he also told a judge, ‘I deserve to do this time.’
Gelia’s lawyer suggested at trial that involuntary manslaughter was a more appropriate charge. He says Gelia didn’t know Southwell was behind the door.
Police said Gelia kicked in the door of a house in November 2016 and fired several shots inside the home, one of which struck and killed Southwell.
In a recording, Gelia can be seen sitting in a car with the woman he describes as his girlfriend.
The film shows them drinking heavily and laughing with a gun in his hand while making numerous threatening statements according to MLive.com.
As the recording progresses, Gelia becomes more aggressive and can be heard threatening to ‘pop someone’. Convicted killer Gelia is pictured above in his mugshot provided by the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office.
Just as the recording comes to an end, Gelia, is seen knocking on the door of Southwell’s home before the camera jumps around and goes black, in the moment just before the sound of someone kicking in the door and firing multiple gunshots can be heard.
Anthony Gelia was charged with one count each of open murder, first-degree home invasion and felony firearms, after killing a total stranger during a botched home invasion
Prosecutors said Gelia’s voice can be heard screaming, ‘What’s up, who’s crazy?’ and, ‘See you in prison,’ while a panicked woman’s voice is heard asking if he just shot someone.
The video was streamed as it happened using Facebook Live, authorities say.
Southwell died from a single gunshot wound. She was holding her infant child when she was shot, witnesses said.
Gelia’s attorney had attempted to block the recording from being seen during the trial, calling it ‘extremely prejudicial’.
‘Jurors will not be able to get past many of the statements he made in the video that have nothing to do with the crime he is on trial for,’ Andrew Kirkpatrick previously said.
But prosecutors disagreed arguing the recording in its entirety establishes Gelia’s state of mind, showing he was aware of the consequences of his actions.
Brittany Southwell died from a single gunshot wound. She was holding her infant child when Anthony Gelia kicked in the door to the family home in Jackson, MI and shot her
The victim died from a single gunshot wound. She was holding her infant child at the time
‘We cannot get better evidence in this case than what we just saw,’ said Jackson County Chief Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Kati Rezmierski.
‘He worked himself into a murderous frenzy and owned what he was going to do.’
Gelia was arrested the same night as the shooting after a Michigan State Police trooper and a Columbia Township police officer stopped him while he was driving a white SUV that matched that of a vehicle leaving the scene.
During the stop, Gelia was seen to be suicidal as he was holding a gun to his head.
Police reports said Gelia kicked in the door of a house in the 400 block of Jefferson Street on election night, Nov. 8, 2016, and fired several shots inside the home, one of which struck and killed Southwell.
Gelia was charged with one count each of open murder, first-degree home invasion and felony firearms.
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