Police arrested Jeremy Stanton in the fatal shooting of Ryan Babcock Tuesday on Fenn Street in Pittsfield | Breakup

PITTSFIELD – Tuesday afternoon, Jeremy M. Stanton sent a message to Ryan P. Babcock and told him to “stop,” according to court records.

So, at 3:28 p.m., Babcock pulled into the driveway of a multi-family residence located at 546 Fenn St., according to the Pittsfield police report. A man Stanton called his uncle lived there.

In surveillance footage later obtained by police, two people dressed in black are seen near Babcock's car about a minute later. Then the sound of two men arguing can be heard, followed by the sound of eight gunshots.

Shortly after the shooting, police said a man wearing a black shirt and shorts was seen in the footage running toward East Street.

A witness also saw a bald man with tattoos on his forearm, wearing black shorts and a black shirt, jump a fence toward Johnson Ford and the Gulf gas station on East Street, according to the report. There, he was again caught on surveillance footage, allowing police who arrived on scene later to identify him as Stanton.

Stanton, 38, of Pittsfield, was charged with murder in connection with the shooting, which authorities say led to Babcock's death. He pleaded not guilty and was ordered held without bail following his arraignment in Berkshire Central District Court.

Police said Stanton told another person Wednesday that he discovered text messages that made him believe his girlfriend had begun an intimate relationship with Babcock. The messages also “talked about [her] steal Stanton’s stash and give it to Babcock,” the report states.

During that conversation, Stanton denied killing Babcock, but would not deny being involved in any way in the homicide, according to the report. He was arrested around 9 p.m. Wednesday in Worthington, where police say he also has a residence.

While the first report of a gunshot in the area came in at 3:31 p.m. in the form of a 911 call, officers canvassing the area initially found no signs of a victim — or a suspect.

But just over an hour later, a man pulled into the same driveway on Fenn Street and saw Babcock, also 38, unconscious in the driver's side of a GMC Terrain SUV parked in the back from the driveway, out of sight of the street, the report states. . The vehicle's windshield wipers were operating at full speed and the driver's side door was partially open.

The man's wife called police at 4:49 p.m. and officers found Babcock, who had no pulse, with at least two gunshot wounds to his chest and lower abdomen, the police report said. report. Eight shell casings were recovered from the driveway, and the driver's side door and window of his car were also hit.

Stanton's defense attorney, Joshua Hochberg, declined to comment immediately after Thursday's hearing. Stanton was ordered held without the right to bail by agreement of both parties.

Stanton's involvement in the adult justice system dates back to 2002, according to court records, and includes at least 19 adult criminal indictments. His arrest Wednesday initially followed an open arrest warrant related to accusations that he attacked a man in a car on the evening of June 2.

In a police report regarding that incident, a man said he was sitting in his Hyundai on Daniels Avenue in Pittsfield when Stanton allegedly approached with a large knife and threw it at him.

The victim told police he rolled up the window, but Stanton kicked him and broke it, then chased the man — still brandishing the knife — as he walked away.

In 2011, Stanton was sentenced to five to eight years in state prison after pleading guilty to several crimes after police raids revealed the discovery of 2,000 painkillers, 600 ecstasy pills, 48 ​​grams of cocaine, two potted plants and three handguns.

And he remains on probation after serving a year in prison as part of a February 2023 guilty plea to threatening two people with a gun. He was also ordered to complete a program at Keenan House North, which provides substance abuse treatment services. He is due back in court on July 22.

Babcock is remembered on social media as a self-employed barber and father, and his sister started a GoFundMe to help cover funeral costs.

Berkshire District Attorney Timothy Shugrue released a statement after the arraignment praising police for arresting a suspect within 24 hours of the killing. And he issued a warning.

“Bringing guns and violence into our neighborhoods is unacceptable,” he said, “and those who do so will be brought to justice by my office.”