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Sean Mann found guilty of murdering Mia Brophy-Bermann

Posted on by L. Dreeye
Sean Mann found guilty of murdering Mia Brophy-Bermann

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PROVIDENCE — A Superior Court jury on Thursday found a city man guilty of the drive-by shooting death of 24-year-old Mia Brophy-Bermann as she chatted with a friend on Olney Street.

The jury found Sean Mann, 33, guilty of one count of murder; conspiracy to commit murder; use of a firearm in the commission of a violent crime resulting in death; shooting from a passing car; and possession of a ghost gun in the 2021 death of Brophy-Bermann, a Warwick woman who worked as a speech therapist.

In addition, Mann was found guilty of one count of carrying a pistol without a license; assault with intent to murder; and the use of a firearm during the commission of a violent crime in which no one was injured in the shooting of Sharon Robinson during his conversation with Brophy-Bermann, according to a press release from the office of Attorney General Peter F. Neronha.

Brophy-Behrmann was attending a party near the scene, and authorities previously said they did not believe she was the shooter’s intended target.

Mann is being held without bond in the adult correctional facility. At the trial, which lasted two weeks, he was represented by William K. Dimitri Krause. The jury began its deliberations Tuesday.

Routine traffic stop leads to discovery of phantom gun

Mann’s accomplice, Isaiah Pinkerton, 27, is serving two consecutive life sentences plus 50 years after being convicted in June of killing Brophy-Behrmann.

Officers responded to a report of a shooting on Olney Street in the early morning hours of Aug. 1, 2021, according to police. Emergency crews rushed Brophy-Bermann to Rhode Island Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

Surveillance footage from the area showed a dark-colored sedan drive past the crime scene and open fire on Brophy-Bermann and Robinson before fleeing. Investigators found two 9mm casings and a fragmentation bullet from Brophy-Bermann’s vehicle in the roadway, which were sent to the State Crime Laboratory for analysis.

Four months later, on December 12, 2021, Providence police conducted a routine traffic stop on a Hyundai Elantra. Officers found a backpack discarded from the Elantra prior to the stop, which contained a ghost gun.

Investigators ran the ghost gun through the National Integrated Ballistic Information Network database, which showed the weapon was a possible match to the gun used in the Aug. 1, 2021, shooting. After numerous confirmed tests, experts determined that the spent shell casings from the Olney Street scene came from a ghost gun.

Before sending the weapon for analysis, investigators swabbed it for DNA testing, authorities said. Swabs confirmed Pinkerton DNA on the gun, magazine and backpack in which it was found.

No one was arrested in connection with the murder for over a year, but on August 24, 2022, Pinkerton and Mann were indicted under secret charges.

Providence Detective Sgt. Timothy McGann and Thedor Michael, a former electronics technician from Providence, Detectives Paul Romano and Thomas Richards led the investigation, joined by Investigator Ryan Malloy and Officer Brad McParlin.

The case was prosecuted by Special Assistant Attorneys General Stephen Dambruch and Alison Bittle.