Twenty-Five Alleged Gang Members Variously Charged With Murder and Shootings in Connection with Crown Heights Turf War

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, August 3, 2016

 

Twenty-Five Alleged Gang Members Variously Charged
With Murder and Shootings in Connection with Crown Heights Turf War

Many of the Shootings Took Place on Busy Streets in Broad Daylight;
Defendants Planned and Shared Their Exploits on Social Media

Brooklyn District Attorney Ken Thompson, together with New York City Police Commissioner William J. Bratton, today announced that 25 alleged members of the rival Lincoln Family and Bergen Family gangs have been variously charged in a 67-count indictment with conspiracy, murder, attempted murder, weapons possession and other charges in connection with eight separate shootings in Crown Heights that left six people injured and a 19-year-old dead.

District Attorney Thompson said, “This indictment underscores the continuing commitment of this office and the NYPD to take back the streets of Brooklyn from mindless gang and gun violence that puts so many people at risk, including in this case an innocent 13-year-old girl.”

Commissioner Bratton said, “This murder and several shootings terrorized Crown Heights. Despite this city being down twenty percent in shootings and in many murders this year alone, there are small areas of violence that still exist. We will continue to focus on those committing violence so those who live there can do so safely.”

The District Attorney said that most of the defendants were arraigned yesterday before Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Joseph P. Sullivan and ordered held without bail and to return to court on September 14, 2016. The others will be arraigned at a later date. Three defendants are still at large. They are variously charged with second-degree murder, first- and second-degree conspiracy, second-degree attempted murder, first-degree assault, first-degree criminal use of a firearm, first-degree attempted assault, second-degree criminal possession of a weapon and related charges. (See defendant addendum).

The District Attorney said that, according to the investigation, the defendants, who now range in age from 16 to 23, are members of rival street gangs operating primarily within the 77th precinct, and frequently engaged in shootings and other violent acts to protect their turf. Lincoln Family territory is bordered by Classon Avenue, Prospect Place, Bedford Avenue and Eastern Parkway. Bergen Family territory is bordered by Bergen Street, Kingston Avenue, Park Place and Rogers Avenue. There is a one block buffer between the two gang territories.

During the course of the conspiracy, between October 2013 and the present, the defendants allegedly agreed to commit crimes, including murder and assault, in order to maintain their dominance over their geographic area, directing their acts of violence toward rival gang members using social media and then taking credit for violent acts on social media. At other times they taunted each other by taking photos of themselves in rival territory and posting them on Facebook.

In addition to charging all of the defendants with second-degree conspiracy for planning and taking part in acts of violence against each other, defendants Isaiah Douglas, 18, Federico Jaen, 19, Linwood Jones, 22, Javon Young, 18, Ebony Brown, 21 and Russell Forest, 18, are charged with first-degree conspiracy, an A-I felony punishable by up to 25 years to life in prison for allegedly conspiring to commit second-degree murder with Lesean Carson, who was under 16 at the time. A person is guilty of first-degree conspiracy if they are over age 18 and conspire with someone under age 16 to commit a class A felony.

Among the acts of violence charged in the conspiracy are the following:

  • On June 2, 2014 Lincoln Family member Ivan Fuentes rode up on a bicycle and opened fire on several Bergen Family members standing in front of 1120 Bergen Street. One member was struck in the groin.
  • On October 25, 2014 Bergen Family members Federico Jaen and Lesean Carson rode up on bicycles and shot at a Lincoln Family member and a 13-year-old Lincoln Family associate, striking him in the ankle.
  • On January 8, 2015 Lincoln Family member Laquan Battle shot and killed Bergen Family member Jaquay (Queezy) Bennett, 19, in front of 769 St. Marks Avenue in retaliation for a January 5, 2015 shooting in which a Bergen Family member, Lesean Carson, shot and injured a Lincoln Family member in front of 797 Franklin Avenue.
  • On March 10, 2016 Lincoln Family member Ivan Fuentes, accompanied by Lincoln Family members Jhalanie Jones, Ray Hernandez, Scott Hunter and Donovan Frazier, fired multiple shots at rival gang members at Franklin Avenue and President Street as school was letting out at Clara Barton High School and the International High School at Prospect Heights, striking and injuring a Bergen Family member and an innocent 13-year-old girl.

The investigation was conducted by New York City Police Department Detective Christopher Carbone, Detective Robert Nelson and Detective Michael Rodrigues of the Gun Violence Suppression Division, under the supervision of Lieutenant Richard Zacares.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Jonathan R. Sennett, Deputy Chief of the District Attorney’s Violent Criminal Enterprises Bureau, Assistant District Attorneys Michael Leigh and James Slattery and Senior Assistant District Attorney Leila Rosini, also of VCE, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Alfred Deingeniis, First Deputy Chief and Assistant District Attorney Nicole Chavis, Bureau Chief, and the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney William E. Schaeffer, Chief of the District Attorney’s Investigations Division and Patricia McNeill, Deputy Chief.

An indictment is merely an accusation and not proof of a defendant’s guilt.

DEFENDANT ADDENDUM:

  1. Ivan Fuentes, dob: 10-18-97, Lincoln Place, Brooklyn. Arraigned and remanded.
  2. Michael Turner, dob: 3-23-96, Lincoln Place, Brooklyn. Arraigned and remanded.
  3. Scott Hunter, dob: 6-12-97, of Brooklyn. Still at large.
  4. Darnell Mincy, dob: 10-24-97, Lincoln Place, Brooklyn. Awaiting arraignment.
  5. Laquan Battle, dob: 6-13-98, Hegeman Avenue, Brooklyn. Arraigned and remanded.
  6. Sequarie Chambers, dob: 5-27-93, St. Johns Place, Brooklyn. Awaiting arraignment.
  7. Carlos Arzu, dob: 6-29-97, Batchelder Street, Brooklyn. Arraigned and remanded.
  8. Donovan Frazier, dob: 4-16-97, Sterling Place, Brooklyn. Arraigned and remanded.
  9. Ray Hernandez, dob: 11-27-97, Lincoln Place, Brooklyn. Arraigned and remanded.
  10. Jhalanie Jones, dob: 11-3-96, Prospect Place, Brooklyn. Arraigned and remanded.
  11. Jahshyim Whitfield, dob: 10-6-98, Amboy Street, Brooklyn. Arraigned and remanded.
  12. Elyejah Orr, dob: 3-13-97, Kane Place, Brooklyn. Still at large.
  13. Shaheim Stuckey, dob: 3-14-97, Clarkson Avenue, Brooklyn. Arraigned and remanded.
  14. Sharic Payne, dob: 3-14-97, Jerome Street, Brooklyn. Arraigned and remanded.
  15. Isaiah Douglas, dob: 3-6-98, St. Marks Avenue, Brooklyn. Arraigned and remanded.
  16. Isaiah Locke, dob: 4-17-98, St. Marks Avenue, Brooklyn. Arraigned and remanded.
  17. Trevor Sandiford, dob: 5-19-99, Flatbush Avenue, Brooklyn. Awaiting arraignment.
  18. Lesean Carson, dob: 3-28-00, Chauncey Street, Brooklyn. Awaiting arraignment.
  19. Federico Jaen, dob: 3-24-97, Bergen Street, Brooklyn. Arraigned and remanded.
  20. Ahnias Williams, dob: 6-21-99, Crown Street, Brooklyn. Awaiting arraignment.
  21. Linwood Jones, dob: 3-11-94, Park Place, Brooklyn. Arraigned and remanded.
  22. Javon Young, dob: 12-8-97, East 92nd Street, Brooklyn. Arraigned and remanded.
  23. Zhanya Mayers, dob: 7-13-99, of Brooklyn. Awaiting arraignment.
  24. Ebony Brown, dob: 7-3-95, North Elliott Walk, Brooklyn. Still at large.
  25. Russell Forrest, dob: 10-18-97, Prospect Place, Brooklyn. Awaiting arraignment.