Man convicted of murder in parking lot of Dorchester bowling alley in 2019

A Suffolk Superior Court jury today convicted Brian Joyce, 30, of Dorchester on a charge of first-degree murder for gunning down Marcus Dunn-Gordon, 27, of Randolph in the parking lot of Boston Bowl, 800 Morrissey Blvd. in Dorchester, on Sept. 16, 2019, the Suffolk County District Attorney's office reports.

Joyce will be formally sentenced next Friday, but the mandatory sentence for first-degree murder is life without parole - although with a review of his case by the Supreme Judicial Court.

According to the DA's office, Dunn-Gordon's death started with an argument between Joyce and Dunn-Gordon's friends inside the bowling alley late on Sept. 16.

Dunn-Gordon and his friends decided to leave without escalating the conflict any further and walked out of Boston Bowl. Joyce and his friends followed them outside and confronted Dunn-Gordon and his friends in the parking lot. A physical fight ensued and Joyce pulled out a firearm and shot Dunn-Gordon. Dunn-Gordon ran across the parking lot and collapsed inside the lobby of the Ramada Inn. He was transported to a local hospital and pronounced dead. Joyce and his friends fled in a white SUV and another car. Joyce was on probation during the shooting and was wearing a GPS monitoring device after being convicted with an armed robbery with a firearm subsequent offense in Suffolk Superior on June 17, 2019 and also faced additional drug charges in Suffolk Superior.

Joyce was originally scheduled for trial in November, 2020, but some required hearings before trial and then the trial itself were postponed because of Covid-19. A series of other incidents - including his attorney quitting, Joyce refusing to leave prison for one hearing, his new lawyer failing to show up for yet another hearing - postponed his trial until this month, according to court records.