By Howard Koplowitz
A Queens Village man who was convicted in November of the 2006 beating death of his 71−year−old uncle was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison last week, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said.
Michael Alexander, 55, who was last known to live at 197 Cornelia St. in Brooklyn, was arrested in April 2007 after his mugshot was featured on the TV show “America’s Most Wanted” and he had been on the lam for nine months the DA said.
Alexander got into a dispute with his 22−year−old girlfriend, Shameka Shaw, on June 26, 2006, and hit Shaw with a wooden baseball bat while she was holding their 5−month−old son, Brown said, citing trial testimony.
The defendant then rushed into the room where his 71−year−old uncle, Rudolph Campbell, was living inside the home at 111−15 209th Place and repeatedly struck him with the bat while he was sleeping, the DA said.
Alexander followed that attack by assaulting another relative, Charles Wynter, with the bat before fleeing the house, Brown said.
Dwight Campbell, the 71−year−old’s son, said he saw Alexander return to the home hours after the attack, threaten his cousin’s life and slash him in the face, the DA said. Dwight Campbell needed 60 stitches to close the wound, Brown said.
Rudolph Campbell was beaten into a coma before dying June 29, three days after the attack, at Mary Immaculate Hospital in Jamaica, the DA said.
His trial before Queens Supreme Court Judge Arthur Cooperman lasted two weeks before a jury found him guilty last month of murder, burglary, assault, attempted assault, criminal possession of a weapon and endangering the welfare of a child, the DA said.
Alexander was also convicted of assaulting the mother of his son, his cousin and another relative who lived in the victim’s Queens Village home along with him, Brown said.
Cooperman sentenced Alexander to 25 years to life in prison Dec. 3.
“Under the circumstances, the lengthy state prison sentence imposed [Dec. 3] was more than warranted,” Brown said in a statement.
An anonymous tipster called the NYPD after viewing “America’s Most Wanted” in April 2007 and told police officers Alexander was staying at the Cornelia Street address, Brown said, but the defendant eluded a police raid on the home.
When officers returned to the home the next day, they were told Alexander was working at a nearby auto repair shop.
Police found Alexander at the shop, where he told authorities he “was tired of running,” Brown said.
Reach reporter Howard Koplowitz by e−mail at hkoplowitz@timesledger.com or by phone at 718−229−0300, Ext. 173.
