Suspect pleads not guilty to Fall River car wash shooting

FALL RIVER, Mass. (WLNE) — The man accused of killing his ex-girlfriend in a Fall River car wash on Memorial Day faced a judge Tuesday afternoon.

33-year-old Angelo Leo was charged with murder in the shooting death of 45-year-old Jessenia Simmons in a bay at the Globe Car Wash.

Court documents state that while Simmons was washing her car, Leo parked at a nearby location and approached Simmons in the wash bay.

Officials said surveillance footage shows Leo entering the bay with a knife in his left hand and a semi-automatic pistol in his right hand.

The same footage shows Leo continuously assaulting Simmons as she attempted to get in the driver’s seat of her Jeep SUV. Leo continued to assault her and pulled her from the car.

Authorities said that CCTV footage later shows Leo throwing Simmons up against a wall in the car wash bay, stabbing her in the back with a folding pocket knife, which police found next to her body, and then shooting her.

The footage then shows Leo grabbing Simmons by the neck, moving her body, and shooting her again, killing her.

Officials said Leo then got in Simmons’ car, ran over her body and fled the scene.

Angelo Leo, who was arraigned in Rhode Island, was extradited to Massachusetts Tuesday afternoon to face a murder charge.

He appeared in front of a Newport judge as a fugitive from justice first because he turned himself in to Tiverton police shortly after the incident.

It was in court Tuesday that officials revealed Leo had two previous restraining orders against him, one specifically from Simmons.

There were also multiple recorded cases where Simmons was abused by Leo and police were involved.

Leo pleaded not guilty and was held without bail pending his next hearing.