Brooklyn gang member convicted of killing 13-year-old boy in Brownsville shooting
Fired Three Times at Group in Street Corner
Brooklyn District Attorney Ken Thompson announced on Wednesday that a 21-year-old Brooklyn man has been convicted of second-degree murder for a fatal shooting in Brownsville that killed a 13-year-old boy in 2012.
“This defendant callously murdered a young boy and then bragged about it,” said Thompson. “Today’s conviction ensures that he will spend many years in prison and be kept off of our streets.”
The DA identified the defendant as Akbar Johns, 21, of 500 Thatford Ave. in Brownsville. He was convicted Wednesday of second-degree murder and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon following a jury trial before Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Neil Firetog. The defendant will be sentenced on Feb. 5, 2016 at which time he faces a maximum sentence of 25 years to life in prison.
The DA said that according to trial testimony, on Aug. 24, 2012 at 12:30 a.m., the defendant fired a .38-caliber revolver three times, killing Ronald Wallace Jr., 13, who was standing with a group of young people at the corner of Tapscott Street and Blake Avenue in Brownsville.
The victim’s older brother and another eyewitness testified that they saw the defendant approach. He said, “What’s crackin?” then fired a gun at the group and tossed the weapon into bushes, according to testimony.
The defendant, a member of the Bully Crip set, was arrested on Sept. 2, 2012 in Cumberland, Maryland and subsequently gave oral and written statements, admitting to committing the shooting. He later bragged about his involvement in recorded conversations from Rikers Island, the evidence showed.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant DAs Yaniris Urraca and Patrick O’Connor of the DA’s Violent Criminal Enterprises Bureau, under the supervision of Nicole Chavis, chief, and the overall supervision of Executive Assistant DA William E. Schaeffer, chief of the DA’s Investigations Division.
—Information from the Brooklyn DA’s Office
