A Far Rockaway man will spend more than two decades behind bars for a 2020 shooting that killed one and injured two others.
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Lawayne Smalls, 19, was sentenced Friday, Dec. 3 to 23 years in prison after he pleaded guilty last month to manslaughter for the shooting on Sept. 8 of last year.
Smalls, of Beach 26th Street, pleaded guilty on Nov. 11 to manslaughter in the first degree before Queens Supreme Court Justice Kenneth Holder.
According to the charges, just before 2 p.m. on Sept. 8, Smalls was on Rockaway Beach Boulevard near Shore Front Parkway when he became embroiled in a verbal dispute with the victim, who was with two other people at the time. Without warning, Smalls pulled out a firearm and began firing at all three people.
Katz said at least six bullets struck Campbell throughout his body. EMS rushed Campbell to a nearby hospital where the 20-year-old died as a result of the gunshot wounds. Two others were also hit by bullets but survived.
“The defendant chose to settle a verbal dispute in the worst possible way, senselessly shooting a man to death and injuring two other people, who will always have the memory of this trauma,” Katz said. “The defendant admitted hs guilt and now has been ordered to prison by the court.”
Justice Holder sentenced Smalls to 23 years in prison, to be followed by five years post-release supervision.
