Shot Shopkeep As He Aided Brother
A 29-year-old man pled guilty last week to first-degree manslaughter for the October 2010 shooting death of a Queens bodega owner who was trying to protect his brother during a robbery.
Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown identified the defendant as Shawn Forde, 29, of 229th Street in Laurelton. Forde, who has been held in jail since his Oct. 31, 2010 arraignment, pleaded guilty last Thursday, Apr. 5, to first-degree manslaughter before Queens Supreme Court Justice Richard L. Buchter, who set a sentencing date of May 1.
Buchter indicated that he would sentence Forde to 15 years in state prison.
“[Forde] has admitted that his violent actions were responsible for the untimely death of a hardworking father and store owner,” Brown said in a statement. “As such, the defendant has proven himself unfit for society, and the prison term to be imposed is more than justified.”
According to the criminal charges, Forde entered the Lucky Deli, located at 220-26 Merrick Blvd. in Laurelton, at approximately 9:50 p.m., on Oct. 23, 2010, and displayed a 45-caliber pistol. He grabbed the deli’s co-owner, who was behind the cash register, and slammed his head onto the counter while demanding money.
Immediately after the deli owner handed Forde money from the cash register, his brother-Juan Torres, 54, who was in the back of the store-came to his aid.
Torres was fatally shot once in the head by Forde, who then fled from the scene.
Assistant District Attorney Karen Ross of the District Attorney’s Homicide Trials Bureau prosecuted the case under the supervision of Assistant
District Attorneys Brad A. Leventhal, bureau chief, and Jack Warsawsky, deputy bureau chief, and the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney for Major Crimes Charles A. Testagrossa and Deputy Executive Assistant District Attorney for Major Crimes Daniel A. Saunders.
