FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, February 27, 2018
Gang Member Sentenced to 25 Years in Prison for Shooting
And Killing Teenager Outside of Applebee’s in Downtown Brooklyn
Shots Fired as Two Rival Gangs Confronted Each Other on Busy Flatbush Avenue
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez today announced that a gang member was sentenced to 25 years in prison for shooting and killing a 16-year-old during a gun battle between gang members on a busy Downtown street. A second young man was injured.
District Attorney Gonzalez said, “This is the second defendant brought to justice for brazenly opening fire on a busy Downtown Brooklyn street with no regard for those around him. The shooting took one young man’s life and injured another. Such senseless violence will not be tolerated.”
The District Attorney identified the defendant as Malik Peters, 19, of Fort Greene, Brooklyn. He was sentenced today by Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Vincent Del Giudice following his conviction last month on charges of first-degree manslaughter, first-degree attempted assault and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon after a jury trial. A co-defendant, Tyshawn Simon-Roberson, 18, was convicted of the same charges by a different jury and was sentenced to 15 years in prison on February 13, 2018.
According to trial testimony, on October 26, 2015, at approximately 6 p.m., members of two rival gangs, the East New York-based “4 to 5” and the Fort Greene-based “900” met up in the vicinity of 395 Flatbush Avenue Extension, in front of an Applebee’s restaurant, and confronted each other. Simon-Roberson pulled out a firearm and fired twice, striking an 18-year-old in the leg. When “4 to 5” associates, which included Armani Hankins, ran in pursuit of the fleeing “900” members after the teen was shot in the leg, Peters pulled out a gun and shot and killed “4 to 5” gang member Hankins.
The case was investigated by Detective Anthony Barbee of the NYPD’s 88th Precinct Detective Squad. The case was additionally investigated by Detective Investigator Kolawole Olosunde, under the supervision of Supervising Detective Investigator David Acres, Deputy Chief Edwin Murphy and Interim Chief Joseph Piraino, of the District Attorney’s Investigations Bureau.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Patrick O’Connor, Deputy Chief of the District Attorney’s Violent Criminal Enterprises Bureau, and Senior Assistant District Attorney Viviane Dussek, also of VCE, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Nicole Chavis, VCE Chief, and the overall supervision of Assistant District Attorney Patricia McNeill, Deputy Chief of the Investigations Division.
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