DA: Joseph Morante put his hands up, but robber shot him dead anyway

A Brockton man "snuffed out a life of promise" in a Tremont Street phone store in July when he shot the store's young clerk in the stomach - after the clerk put his hands up - Suffolk County District Attorney Dan Conley said today.

Elosko Brown, 27, was ordered held without bail at his arraignment in Roxbury District Court. The DA's office provided the following account of the last moments of the life of Joseph Morante, a 19-year-old who had just graduated college and gotten engaged:

[Assistant DA Edmond] Zabin told the court that Morante was working at the iWorld Accessories shop on Tremont Street in Roxbury when Brown walked into the otherwise empty store shortly before 1:30 p.m. After a brief interaction between the two, Zabin said, Morante went behind a counter at the rear of the store.

Brown allegedly waited a moment, then walked over to the counter and produced a gun. Morante put his hands up and offered no resistance, but Brown allegedly shot him in the torso nonetheless.

“We believe this was a completely unprovoked shooting,” Conley said. “It never should have happened.”

Mortally wounded, Morante ran past the defendant and out of the store, making it to the corner of Cunard Street before he collapsed. Meanwhile, Brown allegedly stole a quantity of cell phones and other electronics before fleeing on foot.

Morante was rushed to Boston Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead of his injuries.

Brown was arrested yesterday in Brockton. Prosecutors say this video, released to the public, helped lead police to Brown, along with surveillance video from the store, witnesses and other evidence.

Morante's family and friends remember him.

Innocent, etc.