A Queensbridge Houses man pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the 2018 shooting death of a 29-year-old man who was walking through the nearby Ravenswood Houses, according to Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz.
Shahid Burton, 21, of Vernon Boulevard in Long Island City, admitted that he shot and killed Jelan Moreira in a courtyard at the Ravenswood Houses and pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the first degree before Queens Supreme Court Justice Michael Aloise.
According to the charges, at around 5:30 a.m. on Aug. 26, 2018, Burton was seen on video surveillance as he and another suspect followed Moreira through a courtyard at the Ravenswood complex.
Burton walked up behind Moreira and shot him multiple times in the torso and chest.Moreira was rushed to an area hospital but succumbed to his gunshot wounds.
Burton was on the run until March 28, 2019, Katz said. That’s when a transit officer at the Sutphin Boulevard-Archer Avenue subway station in Jamaica spotted Burton allegedly doubling up with another person to slip through a turnstile.
Burton was stopped by the officer for fare-beating and at that point, it was discovered that he was the suspect in the killing of Moreira a year earlier.
“This was yet again a senseless shooting in a housing complex where children, adults and senior citizens reside,” Katz said. “The defendant, who lived in the neighboring Queensbridge Houses, followed and then shot the victim. This defendant has now admitted to this horrible crime and will be held accountable by the court.”
Justice Aloise will hand down his sentence on Jan. 13 and indicated that he will send Burton to prison for 17 years, to be followed by five years’ post release supervision.
