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Providence man convicted for kidnapping woman outside a Theater District club and killing her

A federal jury today convicted Louis Coleman of kidnapping resulting in the death of Jassy Correia of Dorchester in 2019 - a verdict that could mean life in prison when he's sentenced on Sept. 22.

First Assistant US Attorney Joshua Levy said:

The victim in this case, Jassy Correia, was a vibrant young woman, a mother, a daughter, a sister and a friend. And the defendant, Louis Coleman, was a predator. He tricked Ms. Correia into believing he would give her a ride and instead he held her against her will, sexually assaulted her, murdered her and engaged in a massive cover up. Although this conviction cannot bring Ms. Correia back, today’s guilty verdict brings some measure of justice for her and her loving family who feel this devastating void every single day.

However, Coleman's attorneys signaled their intent to appeal. They filed two requests for mistrials - both rejected by the judge - based on what they said were impermissible statements by various witnesses.

The US Attorney's office summarized the case of what happened after Correia left Venu around 12:15 a.m. on Feb. 24, 2019.

In the early morning hours of Feb. 24, 2019, Ms. Correia, the victim, went out with friends to a nightclub in downtown Boston to celebrate her upcoming birthday. Just after 2 a.m., Ms. Correia became separated from her friends and tried to get a ride home from an Uber XL driver who was idling out front of the nightclub. The driver was waiting for a larger group and pushed Ms. Correia out of the car, and she stumbled onto the sidewalk. Seconds later, video surveillance captured Coleman approach the victim – who was alone, intoxicated, barefoot, and without a winter coat – and take both of her hands. Coleman offered Ms. Correia a ride back to her friend's apartment.

After getting into the vehicle with Ms. Correia, video surveillance showed Coleman make a series of short turns before pulling over, just a few blocks from where he had originally parked, for approximately 12 minutes. Coleman then began driving south to his apartment in Providence.

Surveillance footage from Coleman's Providence apartment building showed Coleman, at about 4:15 a.m. on Sunday, Feb. 24, 2019, parking and exiting the vehicle, and then returning a short time later carrying a blanket. He then walked from the car to the front of the building carrying the victim's body slung over his shoulder. Once he entered the building, surveillance video showed Coleman dropping the victim on the floor and dragging her towards the elevator, and subsequently towards his apartment.

In the days that followed, Coleman visited two car washes and his internet search history reveled he Googled things such as "how to pull a tooth out that's not loose;" "can a person fit inside a suitcase;" "buy dumpster;" "oil barrel;" "how to clean for embalming;" "turkey baster;" and "target sanitizing bleach." In addition, Coleman purchased a $150 air purifier, three 12-lb bags of baking soda, duct tape, 50-gallon trash bags, personal protective equipment including full-body coveralls, an odor respirator, protective masks, safety goggles, a 600-lb rated dolly, three Tyvek suits and a large suitcase.

At 1:15 a.m., on Feb. 28, 2019, Coleman wheeled a suitcase containing the victim's body out of his apartment and into the parking lot where his vehicle was parked. Coleman appeared to have difficulty lifting the suitcase into the trunk of his car, before driving away at 4 a.m.

On the afternoon of Feb. 28, 2019, Coleman's vehicle was stopped by Delaware authorities on I-95 South near Wilmington, Del. Officers ordered Coleman out of the vehicle and asked him if anyone else was in the vehicle with him, to which Coleman said, "She's in the trunk."

Officers discovered the victim's body in the trunk of Coleman's vehicle, bound with duct tape and in the fetal position inside a sofa cushion cover, which was inside of a black trash bag, stuffed inside the suitcase Coleman was seen bringing into his apartment on Feb. 27, 2019. A duffle bag, a pair of new long-handled loppers, plastic garbage bags, clothing, a red plastic gas container, a green butane lighter, black gloves, charcoal air purifiers, air fresheners, tinted safety glasses, plastic Walmart bags, work towels, cloth work-gloves, a new set of DeWalt pliers, a laptop, the computer hard-drive/tower he used to conduct his Google searches and disinfectant wipes were also recovered in Coleman's vehicle. Two large cracks in the windshield on the passenger side were found to contain both Coleman and Ms. Correia's DNA.

The victim had significant bruising, a bloodied face, was bound with gray duct tape and was covered in baking soda. The medical examiner determined cause of death to be strangulation and found evidence consistent with a sexual assault.

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Comments

and was a well-paid engineer at Raytheon. I can't understand what would impel him to throw all of that away.

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You would seem to mourn the loss of a psychopath’s good salary and prestigious position, while omitting entirely the loss of a human being named Jassy Correia, 23 years old.

Condolences to the victim’s family and friends. May they find some measure of comfort.

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Your assessment is way, way off.

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I don't doubt for one microsecond that he's guilty as hell. I just don't understand why someone with so much to lose would make such bad decisions.

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I'm gonna take a guess that he didn't make a conscious, rational decision based on cost/benefit analysis.

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hopefully no one else will suffer thru that torture.

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This coward came from Rhode Island, to be the city of Boston and took a beautiful gem from us. Welcome to your new life in hell, have fun.

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education is not always sufficient to protect against what lies beneath. as the United States population is showing us daily.

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glad the family got some form of justice. it was hard to read the details here

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