FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, March 5, 2015
Brooklyn Man Convicted of Murder in Quadruple Shooting During Basketball Tournament at Marcy Houses in Bedford-Stuyvesant
Defendant Also Convicted of Shooting and Injuring Three Others in Gang Dispute
Brooklyn District Attorney Ken Thompson today announced that a 21-year-old man has been convicted of second-degree murder and other charges for a gang-related shooting that left an 18-year-old boy dead and a 15-year-old and two 13-year-old boys injured. The defendant faces 25 years to life in prison on the top count when he is sentenced later this month.
District Attorney Thompson said, “When this defendant pulled out a gun and opened fire during that youth basketball tournament at the Marcy Houses, he turned what should’ve been a festive event into a scene of senseless violence that left an 18-year-old dead and a 13-year-old partially paralyzed. He will now go to prison where he belongs and may spend the next 25 years thinking about how he ruined so many young lives unnecessarily, including his own.”
The District Attorney identified the defendant as Brandon Reese, 21, of Brooklyn. He was convicted yesterday afternoon of one count of second-degree murder, one count of second-degree attempted murder, one count of first-degree assault, one count of first-degree attempted assault, one count of second-degree assault, one count of second-degree attempted assault, one count of first-degree reckless endangerment, and two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon following a jury trial before Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Sheryl Parker. The defendant will be sentenced on March 18, 2015, at which time he faces 25 years to life in prison on the top count.
The District Attorney said that, according to trial testimony, on July 6, 2013, at approximately 6:30 p.m., at the Marcy Houses, located at 472 Marcy Avenue, in Bedford-Stuyvesant, during a basketball tournament two rival crews engaged in a dispute which ultimately resulted in a shooting.
The District Attorney said that, according to trial testimony, a number of gang members from Bushwick Houses, who belong to a crew named Young Stackers (YS), were hanging out in front of Marcy Houses. A member of Stack Money Goonz (SMG) walked by and realized that one of the YS’s had previously pulled a gun on him. He then called his older brother, the defendant, Brandon Reese, for back-up.
The District Attorney further said that, according to trial testimony, after an argument ensued between his brother and the YS kids, the defendant pulled his gun from his waistband and fired approximately nine shots. Mario Lopez was shot approximately eight times and pronounced dead later that evening. Three others were injured: A 13-year-old shot in the neck with the bullet exiting his nose was left with permanent partial paralysis of his face; a second 13-year-old was shot in the knee; a 15-year-old was grazed on the hip and suffered minor injuries.
The case was investigated by now retired New York City Police Detective James Tischler and other detectives assigned to the NYPD’s 79th precinct.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Nicole Chavis, Chief of the District Attorney’s Violent Criminal Enterprises Bureau, with the assistance of Assistant District Attorney Iris Das, under the supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney William E. Schaeffer, Chief of Investigations.