A Brooklyn man on April 19 was sentenced to 12 years in prison for a 2021 bloody shooting at a Howard Beach motel, according to Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz.
Rawle Washington, 28, of Scholes Street in South, was convicted by a jury at Queens Supreme Court last month of attempted assault in the first degree and criminal possession of a weapon.
According to the charges, shortly after 10 a.m. on the morning of Sept. 18, 2021, police from the 106th Precinct responded to 911 reports of a shooting at the Surfside Motel located at 164-33 Cross Bay Blvd. Upon their arrival, officers discovered the victim, 29-year-old Kalif White, lying on the ground in front of the motel entrance bleeding profusely from gunshot wounds to the buttocks and leg. EMS responded to the crime scene and rushed White to Jamaica Hospital Center for treatment.
Washington was seen on video surveillance in a baseball cap, light-colored shirt, and dark pants in the motel lobby just after 5 a.m. and later that morning, around 10 a.m. The second time, Washington ran after the victim, pointed a gun in his direction and fired several times, according to the charges. Immediately after the shots rang out, Washington turned and ran toward the rear of the motel.
Further video evidence showed Washington tossing the gun into the Shellbank Basin adjacent to the motel. Police recovered the weapon, as well as a light-colored shirt and the baseball cap near the scene.
The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner tested both the baseball cap and the shirt and later confirmed a match to Washington’s DNA. The defendant was arrested on Jan. 18, 2022, after a lengthy investigation into his whereabouts.
“DNA evidence was instrumental in identifying the defendant after he callously shot a man and fled,” Katz said. “Today he faces accountability for his reckless actions.”
Queens Supreme Court Justice Stephanie Zaro sentenced Washington to 12 years in prison.
