Jury reaches split verdict in Northampton’s only murder case of 2021

A Hampshire Superior Court jury reached a split verdict in a case involving Northampton’s only murder of 2021, officials announced Friday.

Steven J. Malloy, a Springfield man accused of fatally shooting Joseph R. Fillio, 39, of Pittsfield, in a Northampton apartment, was found not guilty of first-degree murder Friday afternoon, the court said. Northwestern County District Attorney David E. Sullivan.

But the 35-year-old man was convicted of carrying an illegal weapon, the district attorney said. He is being held on $10,000 bail until he is sentenced.

Jurors deliberated for about five hours Thursday and Friday, the district attorney said, before returning the verdicts.

• Read more: Steven Malloy, suspect in Northampton’s only homicide of 2021, to stand trial

A status hearing is scheduled for Nov. 15, the district attorney said. Malloy could face an enhanced sentence of up to 15 years for his firearm conviction. He will be tried before a different jury at a later date.

Prosecutors said Malloy punched Fillio at a Randolph Place apartment on Dec. 1, 2021. He intended to kill him before shooting him, they said.

Fillio had a gunshot wound to the head, prosecutors said in court in 2022. He was taken to Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, where he was pronounced dead.