A Queensbridge Houses man was sentenced to 17 years in prison Tuesday after pleading guilty to manslaughter in a 2018 fatal shooting at the nearby Ravenswood Houses in Long Island City, according to Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz. Back in November, 21-year-old Shahid Burton of Vernon Boulevard admitted to gunning down 29-year-old Jelan Moreira as he walked through a courtyard at the housing complex.
According to the charges, at around 5:30 a.m. on August 26, 2018, Burton followed the victim as he walked through a Ravenswood Houses courtyard. Video surveillance of the area showed Burton, along with another who has yet to be arrested, approach Moreira from behind. The victim was then shot multiple times in his torso and chest. Moreira was rushed by EMS to an area hospital where he 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.
“The sentencing of this defendant does not make up for the senseless loss of life due to gun violence,” Katz said. “But it is our hope that the family can find some solace in the resolution of this case and the punishment imposed by the court.”
Burton pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the first degree before Queens Supreme Court justice Michael B. Aloise in November 2012. Justice Aloise Tuesday sentenced Burton to 17 years in prison, to be followed by five years post-release supervision.
