FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, March 17, 2017
Bushwick Man Sentenced to 20 Years in Prison for
Shooting Girlfriend to Death
Shot Victim in Face inside his Drug-Filled Apartment
Acting Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez today announced that a 36-year-old man from Bushwick, Brooklyn was sentenced to 20 years in prison for fatally shooting his girlfriend in the face, killing her instantly. The defendant, who had a large amount of narcotics in his apartment, pleaded guilty to manslaughter and narcotics possession earlier this month.
Acting District Attorney Gonzalez said, “Today’s lengthy sentence is warranted to hold this defendant accountable for a completely senseless shooting death. We will continue to vigorously prosecute gun violence and cases involving domestic violence, as we have done in this tragic case.”
The Acting District Attorney identified the defendant as Bryan Gonzalez, 36, of Bushwick, Brooklyn. He was sentenced today by Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Matthew D’Emic to 20 years in prison following his guilty plea on March 3, 2017, to first-degree manslaughter and to 12 years in prison and five years’ post-release supervision following his guilty plea to first-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance. Both sentences will run concurrently.
The Acting District Attorney said that, according to the evidence, on August 22, 2015 sometime after midnight, the defendant joined the victim, Tanya Collazo, 33, who was hanging out with family and friends. The defendant and victim, who were dating on and off, left around 5 a.m. and went to the defendant’s Suydam Street apartment.
At 7:30 a.m., the defendant went into a nearby deli and asked an employee to call the police because he had just killed his girlfriend. Responding officers found the victim shot in the face inside the bedroom and a loaded .40-caliber pistol in the hallway outside the bedroom. The defendant told police the shooting was accidental.
Inside the defendant’s bedroom, police recovered over eight ounces of heroin and over half an ounce of cocaine, along with drug paraphernalia suggesting that narcotics were being processed at the premises.
The case was prosecuted by Senior Assistant District Attorney Sabeeha Madni, of the District Attorney’s Domestic Violence Bureau, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Michelle Kaminsky, Bureau Chief.
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