Victim’s family reacts to guilty verdict in Pawtucket murder trial
By: Brittany Comak & Amanda Pitts
Email: bcomak@abc6.com
Twitter: @BComakABC6
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) – After a two-week trial, and seven years of waiting for the victim’s family, a jury found Juan Gibson of Providence guilty in the cold case 2013 murder of Jeffrey Lebrun.
“We’re just completely grateful and we got justice for Jeff,” said Lebrun’s cousin Christine outside court Wednesday.
The jury found Gibson guilty on all six counts against him which included burglary, assault with a dangerous weapon in a dwelling, discharging a firearm while committing a crime of violence, two counts of conspiracy to commit robbery, and the murder of Lebrun.
“It’s almost 7 years since he was killed,” said Lebrun’s mother Patricia Carrigan. “We’ve been waiting since March when the defendant was arrested to go through this.”
Gibson shot and killed Lebrun inside his Pawtucket home back in July of 2013 during a home invasion.
He also broke into the home two months prior. Lebrun was stabbed that time, but survived.
Gibson was a friend of the family, and prosecutors said the motive was Lebrun’s sale of medical marijuana.
“Mr. Lebrun didn’t deposit his cash in a bank,” said Prosecutor Scott Erickson at the beginning of the trial. “It became common knowledge amongst that group of folks what Jeff did, how much money he made.”
Gibson, 48, was arrested in 2019 after DNA evidence linked him to the crime.
After the first home invasion, Gibson’s DNA was found on a sweatshirt tossed near the home, and after the murder, under Lebrun’s fingernails
Lebrun’s family had been in the courtroom for every day of the trial.
“Absolutely the closure that we needed as a family, for sure,” said his cousin Christine. “And to finally put Jeffrey to rest.”
The trial took exactly two weeks, with 14 witnesses called to the stand. The jury even traveled to the scene of the crime.
Gibson was first arrested in 2014, a year after the murder, for the first home invasion, after his DNA was found on the sweatshirt.
He was charged but never convicted, and spent time in jail only as a probation violator.
Now that he’s been convicted, Lebrun’s family is expressing their deepest thanks for those that kept working the case.
“Jeffrey would definitely be grateful that we were here,” said Christine. “We had his back everyday. We fought for him. The detective never gave up on him. So today has been a great day.”
They are also grateful to the jurors.
“He did not deserve to die,” said Carrigan. “And that person that killed him is going to be giving up his life for the rest of his life, and that’s what we wanted.”
Gibson is facing four life sentences.
He will be held until his sentencing, though no date has been set for that yet.
© WLNE-TV 2020
