UPDATED Feb. 1, 10:25 a.m.
A Woodhaven man faces life in prison for allegedly shooting two men to death in Queens last year.
Neville Brown, 37, of 97th Street was arrested by state police in Dutchess County, NY, and charged with second-degree murder and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon. Sources familiar with the investigation believe the two homicides were drug related.
According to police, on Dec. 19 at 3:20 a.m., officers from the 102nd Precinct responded to a 911 call regarding a male shot while sitting inside of a vehicle in front of a home on 125th Street in Richmond Hill, across from Phil Rizzuto Park.
Upon their arrival, police found 21-year-old Dail Ramessar sitting in the driver’s seat of the vehicle, unconscious and unresponsive, with gunshot wounds to the chest.
According to court documents, video surveillance footage of the scene allegedly shows Brown park a Mercedes Benz nearby Ramessar’s car, a Cadillac Escalade which contained Ramessar and four other passengers, after driving past it several times. Brown and another male in a hooded sweatshirt then allegedly exited the car and approached the Cadillac from opposite sides. The individual in the hooded jacket then allegedly fires several times into the vehicle striking Ramessar. The men fled the scene in the Mercedes.
EMS responded to the scene and transported Ramessar to Jamaica Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Around one month later, on Jan. 16 at 9:21 p.m. officers from the 106th Precinct responded to a 911 call regarding an assault on 135th Street in Richmond Hill. Upon arrival, officers found 19-year-old Omaree Morrison with multiple gunshot wounds in his torso.
Video surveillance allegedly shows the same Mercedes from the first shooting stopped at 135th Street at 105th Avenue. A man wearing a hooded sweatshirt exited the vehicle, approached Morrison and fired several shots into Morrison’s body.
EMS responded to the scene and transported Morrison to Jamaica Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Police were able to connect Brown to the murders through ballistic evidence in both cases. Following an ongoing investigation, state police arrested Brown in the upstate town of Fishkill, NY.
According to the criminal complaint, Brown allegedly admitted that he was the Mercedes Benz at the time of both shootings.
Brown is currently being held without bail and is due to return to court on Feb. 15. If convicted, Brown faces 50 years to life in prison. According to police, he has 20 prior arrests dating back to 1998.
“This defendant is alleged to have taken part in the slaying of two men exactly four weeks apart,” said District Attorney Richard A. Brown. “Gun violence in our community is a scourge on our society and must end now. One man was gunned-down while seated in a vehicle near a playground and the other ambushed as he walked on a residential street after nightfall.”
