FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, May 16, 2018
Brownsville Man Sentenced to 23 Years in Prison for Shooting
Innocent Man in Fort Greene
Victim was ambushed as he was leaving his apartment
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez today announced that a 24-year-old Brooklyn man was sentenced to 23 years in prison for fatally shooting an innocent man at a Fort Greene housing complex in 2015 in retaliation for his alleged involvement in a robbery.
District Attorney Gonzalez said, “The defendant thought himself above the law by taking matters into his own hands, and in the process senselessly ended the life of an innocent man. I’m committed to prosecuting violent criminals and making Brooklyn safe for all its residents.”
The District Attorney identified the defendant as Leonaldo Parrado, 24, of Brownsville, Brooklyn. He was sentenced today by Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Danny Chun to 23 years in prison. The defendant was convicted of first-degree manslaughter and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon following a jury trial in April.
The District Attorney said that, according to the evidence, on February 19, 2015, at approximately 1:50 p.m., the defendant entered the courtyard of the Whitman Houses on Myrtle Avenue in Fort Greene, Brooklyn. The defendant fired four to five shots at Kevin Colon, 20, as he exited the building where he lived with his mother. Video surveillance captured the defendant leaving the scene after the shooting.
Colon was taken to Brooklyn Hospital where he was later pronounced dead from the multiple gunshot wounds.
The shooting was in retaliation for an incident in 2014 when Parrado was robbed by men wearing clown masks, according to trial testimony. The defendant mistakenly believed that Colon was involved in the robbery. Parrado was arrested on September 19, 2015, near his home in Brownsville after a lengthy police investigation.
The case was prosecuted by Senior Assistant District Attorney Ernest Chin, of the District Attorney’s Homicide Bureau, and Assistant District Attorney Robert Schwartz, of the District Attorney’s Red Zone Trial Bureau, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Timothy Gough, Homicide Bureau Chief.
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