A Connecticut man faces life in prison for shooting two men, one fatally, during a traffic dispute in Kew Gardens more than six years ago.
George Cupi, 54, of Shelton, CT, was convicted on Jan. 18 of second-degree murder, second-degree attempted murder and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon. Sentencing is set for Feb. 5, and Cupi faces 50 years to life in prison, Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown said.
According to charges, at around 8 p.m. on July 14, 2011, Cupi double-parked his white van bearing a Connecticut license plate on Austin Street. A vehicle, which contained 31-year-old Jovanny Adames and his wife inside, approached Cupi’s van from behind and beeped the horn several times so the van could move.
When the van didn’t move, Adames exited his vehicle and approached Cupi, who was behind the wheel of the van, where they proceeded to get into an argument. 25-year-old Roberto Adames, Jovanny’s brother, heard the argument and and walked over. The three men continued to argue until Cupi drove away in the van.
Minutes later, Cupi returned to the scene with a .38 caliber revolver and began to shoot at Jovanny and Roberto, who were sitting in the Eight Oaks park near street where the three men had argued. Roberto was shot three times in the chest and died of his injuries. A bullet hit Jovanny in the face and lodged into his brain, but survived the injury.
Cupi then fled the scene. He was later arrested after an anonymous letter was sent to police in Connecticut stating that Cupi had committed a murder in Kew Gardens.
“A jury weighed all the evidence and found the defendant guilty of killing one man and seriously injuring his brother. This was a senseless shooting,” Brown said. “The traffic dispute had ended and the defendant had left the scene, but instead of letting it go, he returned just minutes later to the same street. He shot both men as they sat in a park. The defendant will now face the possibility of spending the rest of his life in prison.”
