By Gina Martinez
A Kew Garden HIlls man was found guilty of second-degree murder following a robbery gone wrong, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said Thursday.
Russhawn Lindsay, 36, was also convicted of attempted robbery and criminal possession of a weapon, according to Brown.
Lindsay was the gunman in a March 2015 robbery plot that went awry when the victim resisted, the DA said.
According to the charges, the girlfriend of Michael Jonathan, the 33-year-old victim, conspired with an unapprehended person who then plotted with Lindsay to have the victim robbed. On March 26, 2015, Lindsay confronted Jonathan on Fonda Avenue in Jamaica. Prosecutors said Lindsay pointed a gun at Jonathan and demanded cash, but when Jonathan resisted, the two men struggled for the gun, which ended with Lindsay fatally shooting Jonathan in the stomach.
Brown said this was a senseless act of violence.
“A jury weighed all the evidence and found the defendant guilty of multiple crimes, including murder,” he said. “The defendant — driven by greed and avarice— thought he had an easy robbery target. Instead, a tense confrontation escalated into a needless shooting with an innocent man dead. The defendant now faces a lengthy term of incarceration.”
Lindsay was sentenced to 24 years to life in prison. Jonathan’s girlfriend has been indicted and her case is pending, Brown said.
Reach Gina Martinez by e-mail at gmart
