Far Rockaway resident Joaquin Bullock on Dec. 5 was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the murder of another Far Rockaway man in 2018, according to Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz.
Bullock, 35, of Chandler Street in Far Rockaway, was convicted last month of murder in the first degree, kidnapping in the first degree and criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree before Queens Supreme Court Justice Kenneth Holder, who handed down the sentence Monday.
According to trial testimony, at around 11 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 18, 2018, Bullock was captured on video surveillance arguing with several men at Beach 25th Street and Brookhaven Avenue. Bullock punched two of the men, including 28-year-old Far Rockaway man Dion Smith, in the face. The fight ended, and Bullock left the scene.
Approximately 30 minutes later, surveillance video showed Bullock returning to the scene and grabbing Smith by the arm before he forcibly removed the victim from the intersection to a dark alley on Brookhaven Avenue, where he proceeded to shoot Smith once in his chest. Smith was rushed to St. John’s Episcopal Hospital by his acquaintances, where he later died as a result of his injuries.
“This defendant ended a physical altercation with deadly retribution,” Katz said. “A jury convicted him for his actions and today, a judge determined his fate. We will continue to fight the plague of gun violence, on the streets and in the courts, with all our might and resources.”
