PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Gary Linen, 42, has been sentenced to life in state prison in the murder of Asiyanna Jones.

 

Lengthy state prison sentences were handed down by Judge John Agostini on Wednesday for those responsible for the death of of the 22-year-old Jones.

 

In addition to Linen, Carey Pilot was sentenced to serve 15 to 20 years in state prison for manslaughter, and Elizabeth Perez to serve two to four years in state prison for misleading a police officer in the homicide investigation.

 

The commonwealth had requested sentences of the statutorily required life in prison for Linen, 18 to 20 years in prison for Pilot, and a significant state prison sentence for misleading a police officer during a homicide investigation for Perez. Defense attorneys requested life for Linen, four to six years for Pilot, and a two-and-a-half-year split sentence at the House of Correction for Perez.

 

Last week, a jury returned the guilty verdicts in the Oct. 2, 2017, shooting death. Pilot, 50, and Linen, 42, engaged in a gunfight on Dewey Avenue in Pittsfield on that evening and a bullet struck Jones, who was inside a car. Perez, 30, lied to police during the investigation.

 

"I thank Asiyanna Jones' family for their powerful victim witness statements they delivered in court today and I am proud of the trial team for their meticulous work in obtaining these convictions," District Attorney Andrea Harrington said.

 

The Pittsfield Police Department with assistance from the Berkshire State Police Detective Unit assigned to the Berkshire District Attorney's Office, Berkshire County Sheriff's Department, the Berkshire Law Enforcement Task Force, Massachusetts State Police Crime Scene Services and Massachusetts State Police Firearms Identification Section conducted the investigation.