A Jamaica man has been indicted by a Queens grand jury for two separate homicides in two years.
Ashik Zaman, 20, of 156th Street, was arraigned in Supreme Court on murder, weapons charges and other crimes for two fatal shootings, one earlier this year and one last year, and a third shooting that seriously injured a man, according to Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz.
According to the charges, on Jan. 21, 2020, Zaman met with the victim, Kevin Williams, in front of the 39-year-old man’s 118th Avenue home in Jamaica. Zaman confronted Williams about money and the two argued. Zaman allegedly pulled out a gun and opened fire striking Williams multiple times in the chest, abdomen, arm and head. He died less than an hour later.
On April 28 of this year, according to the charges, Zaman was with a group of people shooting a music video on 134th Street in South Ozone Park, when they encountered another group near a liquor store and began to argue back and forth. Video surveillance shows both groups parting ways without further incident prior to the shooting.
However, as outlined in the charges, a short time later Zaman stood by a car outside the liquor store while Kajawan Howard, who was talking on his cellphone, began to walk toward Zaman. That’s when Zaman pulled a firearm from his waistband and shot at Howard multiple times. Immediately following the shooting, Zaman jumped into the passenger seat of a black Infiniti. As the car sped off, there was an exchange of gunfire allegedly between Zaman and a member of the opposing group. A 26-year-old man was struck and required surgery to remove his spleen and repair his colon, and Howard was transported to an area hospital where he died of his gunshot wound the following day, on his 29th birthday, according to prosecutors.
“Petty disputes allegedly prompted this defendant to shoot and kill two men and injure a third,” Katz said. “This has to stop, this cannot become the norm. These senseless killings show disregard for human life and the tragedy and chaos that illegal guns are causing in our communities.”
Zaman was arraigned Monday before Queens Supreme Court Justice Ushir Pandit-Durant who ordered him held without bail and ordered him to return to court on Aug. 3.
If convicted, Zaman faces up to 75 years to life in prison.
