By Nathan Duke
A Brooklyn teenager was convicted last week in the attempted murder of a Maspeth man during an October 2006 armed street robbery during which the victim was shot in the head, the Queens district attorney said.
Ronald King, 18, of 1345 Hancock St. in Brooklyn, was convicted April 30 of second- degree attempted murder, assault, three counts of robbery and criminal possession of a weapon in the incident, DA Richard Brown said. The defendant will be sentenced before Queens Supreme Court Justice Richard Buchter, who presided over the two-week jury trial, on June 16, the DA said.
King faces up to 75 years in prison, he said.
The teen, who was 16 at the time of the robbery, and two other accomplices approached Maspeth couple Edwin and Diana Pizarro around 10 p.m. on Oct. 20, 2006, on Bleeker Street near the border of Maspeth and Ridgewood, Brown said. Diana Pizarro was pregnant at the time of the incident, the DA said.
The trio demanded money and the couple handed over a watch, cash and debit cards, Brown said. One of King's two accomplices then yelled, "Cook it," and the defendant pulled the trigger, the DA said.
Edwin Pizarro then struggled with the defendant in an attempt to snatch his gun, but King shot him in the head, Brown said.
The DA said doctors testified at the trial that Edwin Pizarro could have been killed or paralyzed if the bullet, which lodged in his brain, had made a slightly different trajectory.
"He is lucky to have survived with damage to his left arm, some memory loss and trouble with his speech," the DA said.
Diana Pizarro picked King out of a series of photos and identified him in a police line-up one week after the shooting, Brown said. The defendant's two accomplices have not been apprehended, he said.
Reach reporter Nathan Duke by e-mail at news@timesledger.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 156.
