FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, May 28, 2025
Two Gang Members Sentenced to Up to Life in Prison
For Execution-Style Shooting of Three Individuals That Killed One
Defendants Were “Spinning” Through Rival Gang Territory When They Spotted their Victims, Then Ambushed Them in Canarsie Intersection
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez today announced that two Choo gang members, including rapper Culture Bermudez, a.k.a., CoachDaGhost, were sentenced to 60 years to life and 25 years to life in prison for the broad daylight ambush shooting of three young men – killing one, a 17-year-old boy, and injuring two others, ages 19 and 20. The defendants were convicted at trial earlier this month.
District Attorney Gonzalez said, “Bryan Sanon was just 17 years old, with his whole life ahead of him, when he was ambushed and killed in a calculated act of gang violence that also left two other young men seriously wounded. These lengthy sentences reflect the severity of this horrific crime and make clear that we will not allow violent gang rivalries to endanger lives and destabilize our communities. My office remains firmly committed to protecting the people of Brooklyn by holding those who carry out this kind of senseless violence fully accountable.”
he District Attorney identified the defendants as Culture Bermudez, 31, a.k.a., CoachDaGhost, of Brooklyn, and Naquan Pruitt, 30, of Pennsylvania. Bermudez was sentenced today to 60 years to life in prison by Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice John Hecht, and Pruitt was sentenced by Justice Hecht to 25 years to life in prison. The defendants were convicted of second-degree murder and two counts of second-degree attempted murder, on May 7, 2025, and May 5, 2025, respectively, following a two-jury trial.
he District Attorney said that, according to the evidence, on the morning of March 13, 2021, the defendants, members of the Choo gang, were “spinning” in Woo gang territory in Brownsville and Canarsie, “hunting” for rivals, when they spotted Bryan Sanon, 17, and two other young men, ages 19 and 20. Pruitt, who was driving a rented Toyota Camry, “spun” around the block twice and then stopped the car at the intersection of East 82nd Street and Farragut Road, waiting for Sanon and the others to walk into the ambush.
When the victims reached the intersection, Bermudez, who was seated in the backseat and armed with a handgun, and another man, who was seated in the front passenger seat and armed with a handgun, jumped out of the car, and opened fire, shooting all three victims multiple times. The 19-year-old was shot in both legs, the 20-year-old was shot in the face, and Sanon was shot multiple times, including a gunshot to his chest that caused his death.
Following an investigation, Pruitt was arrested in Pennsylvania on May 25, 2021, and returned to New York in June 2021, and Bermudez was arrested in Georgia on July 6, 2021, and returned to New York in December 2021.
The District Attorney thanked KCDA Detective Investigators, the Digital Evidence Lab, and Homicide Paralegal Sarah-Jane Quashie for their assistance on the case.
The case was prosecuted by Senior Assistant District Attorney Steven Bravo, of the District Attorney’s Homicide Bureau, and Assistant District Attorney Amanda Schaefer, of the District Attorney’s Red Zone Trial Bureau, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Leila Rosini, Chief of the Homicide Bureau.
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