Quantcast

Jamaica man admits to gunning down victim in 2019 shooting

wife
Photo via Getty Images

A Jamaica man pleaded guilty to manslaughter charges in a 2019 fatal shooting of a 27-year-old man, according to Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz.

Keanu Suckoo, 21, of 145th Road, admitted that he gunned down the victim as he ran down a Jamaica street in March 2019, and pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the first degree before Queens Supreme Court Justice Kenneth Holder on Monday, Sept. 20.

According to the charges, soon after sunset on March 5, 2019, Pernell Cudjoe was inside of a vehicle with his brother in the vicinity of 145th Avenue and 180th Street when Suckoo approached the vehicle. An altercation ensued and Suckoo pulled out a gun.

Cudjoe and his brother ran down the street away from Suckoo, who fired two shots at the victim. Cudjoe was struck once in the back. He was taken to an area hospital but succumbed to the injury, according to the charges.

Video surveillance from the scene of the shooting showed Suckoo pulling out the gun and shooting at Cudjoe and his brother.

“The defendant, in this case, has now admitted to shooting and killing a neighborhood man,” Katz said. “Senseless gun violence rips our communities apart and causes needless grief. My office continues to work diligently to get illegal firearms off our streets and to cut off access to these weapons of death.”

Suckoo will be sentenced on Oct. 25. Justice Holder indicated he will order Suckoo to be incarcerated for 19 years, to be followed by five years’ post-release supervision.