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Boston man sentenced to life in prison for role in 2009 Newport News murder

Posted at 6:09 PM, Jul 24, 2018
and last updated 2018-07-24 18:09:45-04

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – A Boston man was sentenced Tuesday to life in prison for his role in a 2009 murder in Newport News.

Joseph James Cain Benson

36-year-old Joseph James Cain Benson was convicted after a jury trial on April 17. Along with co-defendants Mark Xavier Wallace of Williamsburg and Bryan Lamar Brown of Newport News, they were found guilty of the murder of Louis Joseph, Jr. nearly a decade ago.

Court documents say Joseph, Jr. was beaten and shot multiple times at his Denbigh home while he was babysitting a five-year-old child. Benson and another person traveled from Boston to Williamsburg to carry out the home invasion to obtain money and drugs.

Brown then took the co-defendants to Joseph’s house and supplied the two firearms to commit the murder. Benson and at least one other man entered Joseph, Jr.’s home, beat him and shot him multiple times during the robbery.

Brown was sentenced to 45 years in prison on July 19. Wallace is scheduled to be sentenced on August 6.