By Ivan Pereira
A Jamaica man was sentenced last week to more than six decades behind bars for taking the life of a teenager when he opened fire at a crowd that was in a Hollis backyard, the Queens district attorney said.
Christopher Chisholm, 24, of Liberty Avenue, was convicted in January by a jury on several criminal counts, including second-degree murder, attempted murder, burglary and criminal possession of a weapon for the April 2006 shooting of Nathaniel Davis and the mugging of another man a few months later, DA Richard Brown said.
Davis, 17, had a bright future ahead of him but was at the wrong place at the wrong time, the DA said.
“Through his actions, the defendant cut short the dreams of his 17-year-old victim, who had been planning to get ready for college. Instead, his family was left heartbroken when his life was ended far too soon,” he said in a statement.
On April 17, 2006, Chisholm and another man who had not been arrested as of press time, opened fire in the backyard of a home on Farmers Boulevard in Hollis, where a group of men had gathered, Brown said. Davis was struck by a bullet in the stomach and died from his wound, Brown said.
Two months later, Chisholm and Anthony Lalor forced their way into the Jamaica home of Amadou Diallo and beat the 37-year-old with a handgun and strangled him with a cord, the DA said. Diallo, who was left unconscious, needed stitches and staples for lacerations to his head, arm and finger, according to Brown.
“[The] second victim is lucky to be alive,” he said.
Lalor, a 24-year-old Harlem resident, pleaded guilty to second-degree attempted burglary Nov. 3, 2006, and was sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison, Brown said.
Queens Supreme Court Justice Gregory L. Lasak sentenced Chisholm, the son of a city corrections officer and an NYPD officer, to 65 years to life in prison during his hearing April 20.
“Today’s lengthy prison sentence is warranted due to the severity of the defendant’s actions,” Brown said.
Reach reporter Ivan Pereira by e-mail at ipereira@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4546.
