Alleged Gang Member Sentenced For Fatal Shooting

A self-proclaimed member of the violent street gang MS-13 has been sentenced to 36 years to life in prison for shooting four men, one fatally, before fleeing the scene on a bicycle.
District Attorney Richard A. Brown said, “The defendant has been convicted in the shooting of four men on a darkened dead-end street corner in Jamaica, Queens, two and a half years ago. The evidence showed that the defendant rolled up to the corner on his bicycle after midnight and, without provocation, cold bloodedly fired a gun at the men before riding off and leaving in his wake one man dead and three others laying wounded on the sidewalk. Under the circumstances, the sentence imposed is more than warranted.”
The defendant has been identified as Manuel Madrid, 21, of 420 Lincoln Avenue in Brooklyn. The defendant was convicted on February 14 of murder in the second degree, attempted murder in the second degree, assault in the first degree and criminal possession of a weapon in the second and third degrees. Queens Supreme Court Justice Randall Eng, who presided at the two-week jury trial, sentenced the defendant to 21 years to life in prison on the murder, attempted murder and assault charges and a consecutive term of 15 years in prison on the gun charges.
The district attorney said that, according to trial testimony, the defendant rode up on his bicycle to the corner of 171st Street and 89th Avenue at approximately 1:37 a.m. on Saturday, September 20, 2003, and without warning repeatedly fired a .38 caliber handgun, striking Christian Brito, 22, in the neck, John Leon, 19, in the shoulder, Carlos Illanes, 20, in the back and Alexander Aguilar in the chest, mortally wounding him. When confronted by police, the defendant attempted to escape on his bicycle but was apprehended after a brief chase.