Man convicted in traffic confrontation gets life sentence

The Rhode Island Superior & Supreme Court building in Providence. File photo by Steve Klamkin WPRO News

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — A Rhode Island man convicted of fatally shooting another man during a traffic confrontation on Halloween night in 2020 has been sentenced to life in prison, prosecutors said.

Jairo Esdel Galva, 23, of Central Falls, was sentenced last week to consecutive life sentences for second-degree murder and discharge of a firearm resulting in death in connection with the death of Joel Rosario, according to a statement Tuesday from the office of Attorney General Peter Neronha.

Galva was convicted last November.

Rosario had been celebrating his 22nd birthday with friends on the night of Oct. 31, 2020 when they got into several cars to travel to another location for a party, prosecutors said.

Galva, driving behind them, flashed his high beams several times.

At an intersection in Pawtucket, Rosario got out of a vehicle and walked to the front passenger side of Galva’s vehicle, prosecutors said. Galva fired one shot with a .38 caliber revolver he did not legally own into Rosario’s chest before driving away, prosecutors said.

Rosario’s friends took him to the hospital where he was pronounced dead.

During the trial, the state proved beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant did not act in self-defense, prosecutors said.

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