A Long Island City man was convicted of beating and shooting an Astoria man to death in broad daylight almost two years ago, prosecutors announced Friday.
Javyn McNish, 21, was found guilty of second-degree murder and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon.
“The defendant showed a total disregard for human life when he viciously shot and beat a 20-year-old man to death,” said acting District Attorney John M. Ryan. “A jury weighed the evidence and after deliberating for six hours rendered a verdict finding this young man guilty of a cold-blooded killing. The defendant now faces a life sentence.”
According to trial testimony, at 4:10 p.m. on Dec. 2, 2017, 20-year-old Jerell Lewis was talking to another man near the Ravenswood Houses when McNish began to chase Lewis into the street. McNish fired three shots, hitting Lewis in the back and hand.
One of the bullets lodged into Lewis’s spinal cord, immediately paralyzing him and causing him to fall to the ground. After Lewis hit the ground, McNish stood over him and repeatedly struck him in the face with the gun, breaking one of Lewis’s teeth in the process.
Testimony states that McNish was seen on surveillance footage fleeing the scene after he shot Lewis. He was found in a nearby apartment following the shooting, and the murder weapon — a 9mm semi-automatic pistol — was also recovered in the apartment.
McNish is due to return to court on Nov. 21, where he faces up to 25 years to life in prison.
