FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, November 3, 2017
Brooklyn Man Sentenced to 25 Years to Life in Prison for Murder After Fatally Shooting Fellow Gang Member in Flatlands
Defendant Shot Victim As they Walked Along Street
Acting Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez today announced that a Brooklyn man has been sentenced to 25 years to life in prison for the shooting death of a fellow gang member who the defendant believed was stealing from other gang members.
Acting District Attorney Gonzalez said, “The defendant’s actions were deplorable and vicious. We will continue to go after all gang-related activities in Brooklyn that endanger the lives of our residents. The defendant will now spend virtually the rest of his life behind bars paying for his brazen behavior.”
The Acting District Attorney identified the defendant as Reginald Brown, 29, of Brooklyn. The defendant was sentenced today to 25 years to life in prison by Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice William Harrington, following his conviction last month on second-degree murder after a jury trial.
The Acting District Attorney said that, according to trial testimony, on November 7, 2010, at approximately 12:55 a.m., near East 48th Street and Avenue J, in Flatlands, Brooklyn, the defendant, a member of the Folk Nation street gang, was walking on East 48th Street with several other alleged gang members. Brown attempted to give a handgun to one of them and instructed him to kill fellow gang member Derron Clarke, but he refused. Brown then took the gun and fired five times at Clarke, striking him once in the neck and once in the right thigh.
Brown was angered at Clarke for allegedly stealing from other gang members, according to testimony. Following a lengthy investigation, he was arrested on April 28, 2015.
The case was prosecuted by Senior Assistant District Attorneys Yaniris Urraca and Owen Sucoff, of the District Attorney’s Violent Criminal Enterprises Bureau, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Nicole Chavis, Bureau Chief.
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