Jury convicts co-defendant of murder of 24-year-old woman in Providence

A Providence man was found guilty Wednesday of murder in the death of a woman who was shot but was not the intended target.

Shawn Mann was charged as a co-defendant in the drive-by shooting death of 24-year-old Miya Brophy-Baermann and the attempted murder of Sheron Robinson.

According to investigators, on August 1, 2021, Brophy-Baermann was standing with her boyfriend outside her Olney Street apartment complex.

Prosecutors said Mann and Pinkerton shot their friend because they thought he was a rival gang member they wanted to kill.

Police said her boyfriend was not affiliated with a gang and that the bullet missed its target and hit Brophy-Baermann instead.

Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha said a jury convicted Mann of one count of murder; one count of conspiracy to commit murder; one count of discharging a firearm during the commission of a violent crime resulting in death; one count of committing a drive-by shooting; one count of possession of a ghost gun; one count of carrying a pistol without a license; one count of assault with intent to murder; and one count of discharging a firearm during the commission of a violent crime without causing injury.

Prosecutors said Mann will be held at ACI pending sentencing.

“Miya's life had just begun when it was tragically cut short, and her loss will forever be deeply felt by her friends, family and community,” Neronha said in a statement.

Mann's co-defendant, Isaiah Pinkerton, was sentenced in January to two life sentences and 50 years in prison in the case.