FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, August 22, 2016
Former High School Basketball Player Sentenced to 15 Years
In Prison for Shooting Ex-Roommate
Fired at Victim Six Times in Sheepshead Bay Courtyard
Brooklyn District Attorney Ken Thompson today announced that a 24-year-old man from East New York, Brooklyn was sentenced to 15 years in prison for shooting another man in the chest and body during a confrontation in broad daylight in a courtyard in Sheepshead Bay.
District Attorney Thompson said, “This defendant chose to repeatedly shoot a former friend, even as the victim lay helpless on the ground, for no reason, leaving him with permanent injuries. The sentence imposed today reflects the seriousness of the crime.”
The District Attorney identified the defendant as Davontay Grace, 24, of East New York, Brooklyn. He was sentenced today by Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Deborah Dowling to 15 years in prison following his conviction on August 2, 2016 of first-degree assault and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon following a jury trial.
The District Attorney said that, according to trial testimony, on January 23, 2015, at 12:26 p.m., outside of 2263 Batchelder Street in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, the defendant had a short conversation with Dexter Hopkins, who was 23-years-old at the time. The defendant then pulled out a .45-caliber pistol and shot the victim in the chest. With the victim on the ground, he fired five additional shots, striking him in the leg and body.
The victim was taken to Lutheran Medical Center. He suffered injuries to his lungs, bowels and leg, underwent multiple surgeries, lost one of his kidneys and still has one bullet lodged in his leg, according to testimony.
The evidence showed that Grace and Hopkins knew each other for years: they once played on opposing Brooklyn high school teams and later were roommates in a Georgia prep school. The victim, who managed to call 911 despite his injuries, positively identified the defendant as the shooter.
The case was prosecuted by Senior Assistant District Attorney Charles Guria and Assistant District Attorney Garey Pierce of the District Attorney’s Trial Bureau, Green Zone, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney David Klestzick, Bureau Chief.
#