Brooklyn defendants convicted In murder-for-hire scheme

Used women to lure victim to his death

April 25, 2013 Kings County District Attorney's Office

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Kings County District Attorney Charles J. Hynes on Wednesday announced the conviction of Ragene Powell-Dickerson and Jimmy Copeland for Murder in the First Degree, Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree and Conspiracy in the Second Degree.

Both men face life-in-prison without the possibility of parole. Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Neil Firetog presided over the jury trial.

Powell-Dickerson offered to pay Copeland $1,000 to kill Dwayne Burnett in June 2010, because Burnett had insulted Powell-Dickerson. Copeland enlisted the help of his sister Crystal Copeland and her friend Ebony Geddie, who began sending sexually explicit texts and photos to Burnett. They set up a meeting with him on for the next day.

On June 13, 2010, they drove to the agreed-upon location, where Geddie met the victim. She got him to exit his car, whereupon Jimmy Copeland shot him numerous times, killing him.

Crystal Copeland and Geddie testified against the two men in exchange for pleading guilty to Conspiracy in the Second Degree and a promised sentence of 4 to 12 years in prison.