Crime

Closing arguments delivered in trial of Kelsey Fitzsimmons. Here’s what happened.

The case centers around whether or not Fitzsimmons aimed a gun at a colleague before he shot her last June.

Assistant Essex District Attorney James Gubitose uses the weapon wielded by Kelsey Fitzsimmons to make a demonstration during his closing argument. Screenshot / NBC10 Boston

By Ross Cristantiello

updated on March 26, 2026 | 11:48 AM

5 minutes to read

The trial of Kelsey Fitzsimmons continued Thursday, with closing arguments.

Fitzsimmons, a former North Andover police officer, stands accused of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon. She was shot by a colleague, Officer Patrick Noonan, on June 30, 2025, in her home. The shooting occurred as officers attempted to serve her a restraining order that had been granted to Justin Aylaian, Fitzsimmon’s then-fiancé and the father of her child.

Catch up on all the details of the case here.

Judge Jeffrey Karp is overseeing a bench trial, which began Monday with opening statements and witness testimony. Noonan and others took the stand on Tuesday. Fitzsimmons herself testified Wednesday before both sides rested their cases.

The closing arguments wrapped up mid-morning Thursday, and Karp will soon deliver a verdict.

Defense

Attorney Timothy Bradl delivered the closing argument for the defense. He framed June 30, 2025, as the worst day in Fitzsimmons’s life. After being served the restraining order, she believed that she was about to lose everything: her son, her fiancé, her house, and her dog.

“It was an incredible confluence of tragedy that was visited upon her that day,” Bradl said.

Noonan, who Bradl described as a “gung-ho cop” who had already been “ginned up” by Aylaian’s claims, walked into a “suicide in progress” that day. Noonan made a mistake, reacting too quickly and mistakenly shooting an individual that posed no danger to him, Bradl said.

Noonan instantly realized his mistake and knew that he had to “adjust the narrative.” In claiming that Fitzsimmons pointed her gun at him, he made himself into a victim and a hero, Bradl said.

Bradl stressed that Fitzsimmons thought well of Noonan, knew he had a wife and child, and had no reason to want to harm him. As a former police officer who has served restraining orders before, Fitzsimmons knew that Noonan was simply doing his job that day and acting as a messenger, Bradl said.

Fitzsimmons choosing to testify is evidence of her moral clarity, Bradl said. She knew that attempting suicide was a selfish act and wanted to do it alone, away from her colleagues. Fitzsimmons tried to get them away from her, first lying about her guns being in the basement and then handing them baby items, he said.

Fitzsimmons only acted when she saw that Noonan had taken a few steps down from the landing and away from the room she was in. She attempted to conceal the gun after grabbing it, holding it near her stomach and taking a few steps back into her bedroom, Bradl said.

As an experienced police officer, Noonan knew well that he should not have used deadly force on a subject that was only exhibiting a danger to herself, Bradl said. This, he said, provides a motivation to Noonan’s lies.

“He knows that this is not a good shooting, he knows this is not a clean shooting,” Bradl said. “Brainfreeze. Mistake. He has to cover it up immediately.”

The prosecution did not prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt, he said. The simple fact that there are two plausible versions of events shows reasonable doubt in and of itself, he added.

“Kelsey Fitzsimmons has been blessed. She should be dead two times over, by her own hand and by the hand of officer Noonan, who shot too quick. She’s blessed. She’s here today, and she has a new lease on life. And maybe that’s why the investigation is what it is, and maybe that’s why Noonan’s story is so sloppy. Because nobody expected her to be here today, to tell her truth,” Bradl said.

Prosecution

Assistant Essex District Attorney James Gubitose delivered the closing argument for the prosecution.

He focused heavily on the weapon Fitzsimmons used that day, using it himself to demonstrate what happens when the trigger is pulled and no round is in the chamber. Gubitose described Fitzsimmons’s version of events as “scientifically” and “mechanically” impossible.

The magazine that Fitzsimmons used was found with 16 rounds, plus one in the chamber. There are only two ways to load a bullet into the chamber, he said. The first would have been if another one was fired and the bullet automatically loaded. We know this did not happen here, he said.

So the only way for the bullet to have been loaded into the chamber was if someone racked the weapon. Fitzsimmons said she did not do this, but a round was still found in the chamber, Gubitose said.

“Her story can’t be true. She got up on that stand and she lied to you,” Gubitose said to Karp. “It’s scientifically and physically impossible for her story to have happened the way she said.”

Gubitose emphasized Fitzsimmons’s claim that she made the decision to attempt suicide while walking around the house gathering items for her son. But she lied to the officers about her guns being in the basement soon after they arrived at her home, seemingly before she made the decision to attempt suicide. This, Gubitose said, is inconsistent with the defense’s claims that she lied about the location of the guns in order to prevent their involvement in her suicide attempt.

Gubitose pointed to Lt. Sean Daley’s testimony, where he said that he chose to call Noonan and Officer Timothy Houston because they are “cool, calm, and collected.” Gubitose described Noonan as a well-trained and “by the book” officer who would never have followed Houston down the stairs and left Fitzsimmons alone.

After seeing Fitzsimmons pull the trigger and only hearing a clicking noise, Noonan knew that there was no round in the chamber of her weapon. He had the right to shoot her there but exhibited restraint and pleaded with Fitzsimmons in an attempt to prevent her from actually loading a round into the chamber, Gubitose said.

“He is being disciplined like we wish every police officer, every law enforcement agent in this country was. He should be applauded for his actions on that day,” Gubitose said of Noonan.

Noonan only shot after he saw that Fitzsimmons had successfully racked a round into the chamber, Gubitose said. He only fired twice, to neutralize the threat. He kept his weapon leveled at her, deliberately moved the weapon further away from her, and asked another officer to secure it after the shooting. This shows that Noonan remained levelheaded and alert, he said.

“He’s cool, calm, and collected. That’s what Lt. Daley expected and that’s what he was. He didn’t make a mistake,” Gubitose said.