Two Queens men admitted they were responsible for the fatal shooting of two men in South Richmond Hill in late 2017 and early 2018, according to Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz.
Richard Davenport, 46, of 139th Street in Jamaica, and Neville Brown, 42, of 197th Street in Hollis, each pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree manslaughter on Nov. 14 before Queens Supreme Court Justice Michael Aloise, who indicated he would sentence Davenport to 29 years in prison and Brown to 15 years.
According to the charges, at around 3 a.m. on Dec. 19, 2017, Brown was behind the wheel of a Mercedes Benz and Davenport was the lone passenger. They repeatedly drove past a Cadillac Escalade parked on 125th Street near Atlantic Avenue in front of a home across the street across from Phil Rizzuto Park in South Richmond Hill. Security camera video showed the defendant parking the Mercedes, getting out of the vehicle and approaching the Escalade from opposite sides. Davenport is then seen firing several times into the vehicle, striking 21-year-old Dail Ramessar, before they fled the scene. EMS responded to the crime scene and rushed Ramessar to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, where he was later pronounced dead.
Additionally, according to the charges, on the night of Jan. 16, 2018, security video shows the same Mercedes Benz stopped on 105th Street near 135th Avenue in South Richmond Hill. Davenport is seen leaving the vehicle and approaching Omaree Morrison, 19, as he walked along 135th Avenue. Davenport fired several shots, striking Morrison multiple times in his torso. EMS responded to the crime scene and rushed Morrison to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.
Ballistics tests showed that the shell casings recovered from the January 2018 shooting matched those found at the December 2017 crime scene, according to the charges.
“The scourge of gun violence that has brought heartache and grief to our communities will never be tolerated,” Katz said. “My office will continue our unrelenting efforts to bring justice for the victims, no matter how much time has passed. In pleading guilty, both defendants have accepted responsibility for taking the lives of two young men and are behind held to account with lengthy prison terms.”
Justice Aloise set sentencing for Davenport on Jan. 12 and sentencing for Brown on Jan. 13.
