By Gina Martinez
OZONE PARK — A former Marine was found guilty of a fatal 2012 shooting outside an Ozone Park nightclub, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said.
Brooklyn resident William Harrigan, 33, was convicted last week of second-degree murder and criminal possession of a weapon following a three-week jury trial in Queens Supreme Court, Brown said. Harrigan has been held without bail since August 2012. He is scheduled to be sentenced April 19 when he faces 25 years in prison, the DA said.
Harrigan and the victim, 22-year-old Boutin Williams, got into a brief verbal dispute after being ejected from the Ozone Park nightclub Flirt at 94-02 80th St. Sometime around 3 a.m. to 4 a.m. on Aug. 27, 2012 the two men got into a fist fight.
Harrigan went to his car, got a gun and returned to the scene of the fight, where he shot Williams five times, striking him four times in the back and once in his upper right arm, killing him, Brown said.
“In rendering its verdict, the jury found the defendant guilty of senselessly murdering a young man during an argument that escalated into blows,” the DA said. “As a result of his actions that night, the defendant now faces the prospect of being locked away for the rest of his life.”
At the trial, Harrigan claimed that as a former Marine he suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
— Gina Martinez
