On Friday, May 31st Tyler Sumner was found guilty of Murder in the First Degree and Possession of Ammunition without a Firearm Identification Card by a jury of his peers. The trial was held in Berkshire Superior Court. The Honorable Judge Flannery will schedule sentencing.
Tyler Sumner (5/30/1994: 103 Columbia Street, Apt. 1, North Adams, MA 01247) was found guilty of murdering Stephanie Olivieri (9/1/1981). In the early morning hours of Sunday, August 25, 2019, Pittsfield Police responded to 911 call reporting two masked men walking around 66 South John Street. While in route, the responding officers heard several gun shots around the area of South John Street. When the officers arrived on the scene, they found a woman, later identified as Stephanie Olivieri, in her running car. Ms. Olivieri was gasping for breath and had blood running down the right side of her head. The responding officers called for backup and began lifesaving efforts. Ms. Olivieri was treated by EMS on the scene and then transported to Berkshire Medical Center where she was later pronounced dead. The Chief Medical Examiner found the cause of her death to be a homicide caused by wounds sustained from a bullet to her head.
Multiple individuals testified that they believed Tyler Sumner was targeting an individual living in the area of the shooting. They believe that Ms. Olivieri was not the intended target of the murder.
Following the shooting, law enforcement conducted a thorough investigation that included gathering multiple pieces of evidence. This evidence included items recovered at and around the crime scene, video surveillance from multiple residences and businesses, witnesses present at the time of the crime, individuals with suspected knowledge of what occurred, and recorded calls from the Hampden County House of Corrections, and a singular text message exchange. (Notable evidence is listed below.)
Following the verdict being read, District Attorney Shugrue stated:
“Today justice was served in the tragic death of an innocent bystander, Stephanie Olivieri; however, this guilty verdict will do nothing to bring her back. Tyler Sumner murdered Ms. Olivieri while she sat in a car filled with gifts and decorations for her child’s birthday. She was preparing to celebrate a wonderful event when her life was ruthlessly cut short.
Proving this case against Mr. Sumner presented many challenges for the prosecutors. The tremendous work of the Pittsfield Police, supporting law enforcement agencies, and the victim witness advocates were crucial in allowing justice to be reached. The guilty verdict could never have come without the phenomenal work of Assistant District Attorney Eramo and Assistant District Attorney Winston. Together, they fought throughout the trial and gained justice from the jury.
As the work of our office has demonstrated over the past year and a half, I do not tolerate gun violence. No matter how challenging a gun violence case is, the Berkshire District Attorney’s Office will not back down.
Finally, I want to extend my sincerest thanks to the jury for their dedicated attention over the past two weeks. I commend their work to seek the truth and come to a just verdict.”
Assistant District Attorney Rachel Eramo and Assistant District Attorney Amy Winston represented the Commonwealth. Director of Victim Witness Advocates, Jane Kibby-Peirce, served on behalf of the Berkshire District Attorney’s Office.
The Pittsfield Police Department was the lead law enforcement agency investigating the case. The Pittsfield Police Department was supported by the Massachusetts State Police Firearms Identification Section, the Massachusetts State Police Crime Lab, the Berkshire House of Corrections, the Hampden County House of Corrections, and the Berkshire District Attorney’s Office State Police Detective Unit.
Notable evidence recovered in the case:
At and around the crime scene officers recovered multiple pieces of evidence including:
• In the car Ms. Oliveri was found in, law enforcement observed
o Broken glass in the right rear passenger side window consistent with a bullet shot
o Locked doors and closed windows (with the exception of broken glass caused by a bullet demonstrating Ms. Olivieri was in her car throughout the shooting)
o A running car
• Eight spent shell casings on the ground surrounding the car
• Latex gloves in the north bound travel lane of South John Street
• Clothing including a black t-shirt, black jacket, white polo shirt and black sweatshirt discarded under an SUV on South Onota Street (vehicle not connected to the crime)
o Specifically, a white-polo shirt found in the back wheel well of the SUV
• Witnesses attesting to hearing multiple gun shots outside the house intersection of South John Street and Columbus Avenue
• Descriptions of two masked men in dark clothing walking in the area prior to hearing gun shots
• A description of what the masked men did
o One masked man beckoned another masked man over to him
o One masked man pointing a gun
o Moments later hearing gunshots
• Descriptions of the two masked men going towards and getting into a dark sedan
• Multiple bullet strike marks in one direction demonstrating there was no return fire
• Two types of ammunition recovered at the scene (one type of ammunition belonged to two separate guns demonstrating there were three shooters)
Surveillance footage collected during the investigation included:
• Multiple private residential surveillance videos (such as Ring Cameras)
o Private residential surveillance included surveillance on South Onota Street and West Street which track the vehicle towards West Housatonic Street
• Multiple external surveillance videos from businesses on West Housatonic Street
• Drive-through video from the West Housatonic Street McDonalds
Surveillance video showed:
• A black sedan circling the area of the shooting for hours prior to the shooting
• Flashes of light, consistent with gun shots on South John Street
• Three figures running across South John Street away from where the shots were fired
• A dark sedan traveling down West Street and onto South Onota
• Three individuals exiting a dark sedan on South Onota Street
• Three individuals pausing by an SUV on South Onota Street
• The driver of the black sedan going towards the rear passenger of the SUV on South Onota Street (a shirt with Sumner’s DNA is found in the back wheel-well of the SUV)
• Three individuals getting back into the same sedan after pausing by the SUV and leaving South Onota
• Surveillance tracking the sedan down multiple streets eventually leading to West Housatonic
• Multiple surveillance videos tracking the sedan down West Housatonic Street towards McDonald’s
• The same sedan going through the McDonalds’ drive-through on West Housatonic Street
Additional evidence that connected Tyler Sumner to the murder included:
• Evidence that Tyler Sumner was connected to and regularly seen with an owner of a black Chevrolet Malibu (sedan style)
• Evidence that Tyler Sumner was in the area of Pittsfield, Massachusetts at the time of the murder based on a phone ping
• Tyler Sumner’s phone ping in the area of the shooting prior to the event
• Testimony that an individual in the area of the shooting confronted individuals in the black sedan circling the area prior to the shooting
• DNA evidence belonging to Tyler Sumner on the latex gloves recovered from the scene
• Gunshot residue on the latex gloves recovered from the scene
• Tyler Sumner’s DNA on the white polo found under the SUV on South Onota Street
Calls from the Hampden House of Corrections include:
• Tyler Sumner directing an individual intimately connected to the Defendant instructing them to break a laptop because the police were requesting it
• Tyler Sumner attempting to persuade the same individual to assert their Fifth Amendment Right
• Tyler Sumner considering telling police where a gun is located
• Tyler Sumner speaking with an individual who he had a past intimate relationship attempting to convince them to obtain an FID card. He explains that if the individuals does then then they can carry the firearm for him in the future
A text message exchange from Tyler Sumner’s phone to the owner of the black Chevy Malibu. In the exchange Sumner instructs the owner of the black Chevy Malibu to immediately get rid of the car.
Following the text exchange, the individual brings a black Chevrolet Malibu (a sedan) to a car dealership and successfully exchanges the vehicle. Law enforcement were able to immediately take custody of the vehicle following the exchange.