By Rebecca Henely
A Queensbridge woman was sentenced to 25 years in prison last week for shooting her elder sister during her birthday party earlier this year in the apartment they both shared, the Queens district attorney’s office said.
Melanie Webb, 25, pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the March 26 killing of 27-year-old Tara Webb before Queens Supreme Court Judge Richard Buchter Nov. 3, and Buchter imposed the fixed sentence Nov. 23, the DA said.
District Attorney Richard Brown said last month that the guilty plea spared Tara Webb’s 4-year-old son from having to relive the event through a trial.
No motive for the murder was ever disclosed.
“This case is a double tragedy in that a young child must grow up without the love and comfort of his mother,” Brown said in a statement after Melanie Webb’s sentencing. “Today’s sentence is a measure of justice for the young woman who was killed during what should have been a celebration and an appropriate punishment for the defendant.”
Melanie Webb shot Tara Webb and her sister’s boyfriend, 26-year-old Terrell Carmichael, inside of their apartment in Queensbridge, at 40-07 12th St., the DA said. The crime occurred at about 2:19 a.m., the DA said.
Tara Webb, who was shot once in the chest, and Carmichael, who was shot twice, were both taken to Weill Cornell Medical Center in Manhattan, the DA said. Webb was pronounced dead at the hospital but Carmichael survived, the DA said.
Melanie Webb is the only person to have been arrested in one of the three murders that occurred in Queensbridge Houses this year. Tara Webb was the second person to be killed and the only Queensbridge resident to be slain in the three gruesome crimes.
The first victim, 39-year-old Clarence Williamson, was from Rochdale. He was found Jan. 29 with a gunshot wound in his left shoulder at the corner of 41st Avenue and 12th Street, police said. He was taken to Weill Cornell Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead, police said.
The NYPD is looking for Devon Smith, a 27-year-old black man with braids who is about 5 feet 6 inches tall and weighs 180 pounds in connection with the crime.
The third victim, 19-year-old Woodside Houses resident Mark Torres, was shot in the head early July 5 near 41-03 Vernon Blvd. after an Independence Day barbecue, police said. Torres was also sent to Weill Cornell Medical Center, where he died hours later, police said.
The NYPD’s prime suspect is 22-year-old Barrington Grant, who is described as a black man about 6-foot-2 and weighing 195 pounds with black hair and brown eyes.
Reach reporter Rebecca Henely by e-mail at rhenely@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4564.
