FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, February 22, 2018
Brooklyn Man Convicted of Fatal Shooting in Ditmas Park
Faces up to 25 Years to Life in Prison
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez today announced that a Brooklyn man was convicted of murder for the 2015 shooting death of another man, Raphael Kurton, who was shot in the chest and leg in front of a shop in Ditmas Park.
District Attorney Gonzalez said, “This was a brazen and senseless murder for which a jury has now held this defendant accountable. Brooklyn residents have a right to feel safe in their communities and we will never tolerate such violence in our neighborhoods.”
The District Attorney identified the defendant as Patrick Zephir, 36, of Ditmas Park, Brooklyn. He was convicted today of second-degree murder and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon following a jury trial before Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Vincent Del Giudice. The defendant will be sentenced on April 9, 2018, at which time he faces up to 25 years to life in prison.
The District Attorney said that, according to trial testimony, on May 26, 2015, at approximately 9:20 p.m., in front of a deli located at 1624 Newkirk Avenue, the defendant aimed a handgun at Raphael Kurton, 27, and fired six times, striking the victim twice, once in the chest and once in the thigh. He later died at Kings County Hospital.
Zephir fled the scene and was arrested two and a half months later in West Virginia.
The case was prosecuted by Senior Assistant District Attorney Bernarda Villalona, of the District Attorney’s Homicide Bureau, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Timothy Gough, Bureau Chief.
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