NORTHAMPTON — The man charged with committing Hampshire County’s only murder of 2021 pleaded not guilty to two felony indictments in Hampshire Superior Court on Tuesday.
Steven J. Malloy, 32, is accused of shooting Joseph Filio of Pittsfield in the head last December. Filio’s body was found in an apartment on Randolph Place in Northampton and police arrested Malloy based on witness reports.
Filio was 39 at the time of his killing.
The murder indictment, read aloud by Hampshire Superior Court Clerk Harry Jekanowski, Jr., alleges that Malloy “did assault and beat Joseph Filio with the intent to murder him, and by shooting him in the head with a handgun and by such assault and beating, did kill” the victim.
Assistant District Attorney Matthew Thomas represented the commonwealth at the arraignment.
Asked by the Gazette if Filio and Malloy had a previous relationship, Thomas confirmed they had, but declined to elaborate. He also declined to reveal the alleged motive, which prosecutors have not disclosed since the murder.
Malloy, listed in court records as homeless, will remain held without bail, but bail may be reviewed at a future court hearing. A status conference on the case is scheduled for May 6.
Malloy is charged with murder and unlawful possession of a firearm by a person with two or more violent crime convictions. He pleaded not guilty to murder in Northampton District Court on Dec. 2, hours after Filio’s death.
The indictments this month by a Hampshire County grand jury elevated the case to Superior Court and a new arraignment was necessary. The arraignment was delayed from March 14, when Malloy changed attorneys.
He was found to be indigent and the court has now appointed public defender Maura Tansley to represent him.
Prosecutors have said that Malloy was convicted of assault and battery on a person with a disability in Springfield District Court in June 2010, and he was convicted of assault and battery and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon in Hampden County Superior Court in October 2013.
Brian Steele can be reached at bsteele@gazettenet.com.