FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, April 14, 2015
Cold Case Homicide Suspect Sentenced to 25 Years to Life in Prison
Defendant Fled to Jamaica, West Indies, Following 1997 Murder of a 16-Year-Old Boy
Brooklyn District Attorney Ken Thompson announced that a 45-year-old man has been sentenced to life in prison for the shooting death of a Bushwick teenager nearly 15 years ago.
District Attorney Thompson said, “The defendant was on the run for over 10 years thinking he got away with murder and cowardly living his life on the island of Jamaica. With this long prison sentence, the defendant will have plenty of time to think about the lives he destroyed, including his own.”
The District Attorney identified the defendant as Michael Keating, 45, of 13 Biscayne Avenue, 9 miles, Bull Bay, Jamaica, West Indies. He was sentenced yesterday by Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Alan Marrus to 25 years to life in prison. He was convicted of second-degree murder last month following a jury trial.
The District Attorney said that, according to trial testimony, on September 6, 1997 on Linden Street in Bushwick, Brooklyn, the defendant – who at the time of the incident was a 27-year-old drug dealer – accused John Eric Ogaldez’s friend of trying to take over his turf. Keating opened fire at Ogaldez’s friend, who ran away. The defendant then turned around and shot Ogaldez in the back and stomach – where he was left to die between two parked cars. Shortly afterwards, the defendant fled to Jamaica, West Indies. He was extradited back to Brooklyn to face the charges in April 2013. The jury deliberated for an hour before deciding to convict the defendant.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Phyllis Chu, Counsel to the District Attorney’s Homicide Bureau, under the supervision of Deputy Assistant District Attorney Kenneth Taub, Chief of Homicide Bureau.
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