BRONX MAN SENTENCED TO 25 YEARS TO LIFE IMPRISONMENT IN
SHOOTING DEATH ARRANGED BY SPURNED WOMAN WHO MET DATE ON THE
INTERNET
Bronx District Attorney Robert T. Johnson announced today that a 29-year-old Bronx man has been sentenced for his role in the shooting death of a 19-year-old young man who had arranged a rendevous with a 25-year-old woman via the Internet.
Acting State Supreme Court Justice Peter Benitez sentenced Roy Gray to 25 years to life imprisonment on one count of Murder in the 2nd degree. On October 8, 2008, a jury found Gray, of 1485 Grand Concourse, the Bronx, guilty in the fatal shooting of Levi Bernard.
The murder occurred on November 16, 2004 in an apartment on Hammersley Avenue that Bernard shared with his mother and 13 year-old brother. The jury heard testimony that Bernard met Latisha Lindsay in a chatroom on the Internet and the two agreed to meet and have sexual relations. When Lindsay went to Bernard’s apartment, Bernard saw that Lindsay weighed about 300 pounds. There after, an argument ensued and Lindsay threatened to have Bernard shot for snubbing her.
The jury heard evidence that Lindsay recruited Gray, and two other men to return with her to Bernard’s apartment. She persuaded the three men to accompany her by telling them that Bernard had raped her. It is alleged that the defendants kicked in the apartment door and that
Gray and one other who was armed with handguns, opened fire. Bernard ran into a bedroom and was shot in the chest and groin area. Bernard’s mother and 13-year-old brother, who were home when the shots were fired were not injured. Gray remained at large until May 2, 2005 when he was arrested by the NYPD’s Bronx Homicide Task Force and admitted his role in the fatal shooting. Other evidence presented at the trial included a black baseball cap found at the crime scene which contained Gray’s DNA.
Lindsay went on trial in November 2007 and was acquitted of “acting in concert” in the murder but was found guilty of Burglary in the 1st degree. She is currently serving a term of up to 15 years imprisonment.
The two other defendants, Terry Bazemore and Darren Gunter, are awaiting trial on charges of murder and other offenses. Assistant District Attorney Troy A. Smith of the Trial Division and Assistant District Attorney Justin Braun of the Appeals Bureau prosecuted this case.
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