A Long Island man was criminally charged with murder in the cold-blooded fatal shooting of a Florida man outside a St. Albans nightclub in April.
Christopher King, 31, of Essex Street in Elmont, was arraigned Sept. 1 in Queens Supreme Court on an indictment charging him with murder in the second degree, two counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree and reckless endangerment in the first degree for gunning down 23-year-old Jevaighn Jeminsson of North Fort Lauderdale. King is accused of acting with an accomplice, according to Queens District Attorney Melida Katz.
According to the charges, at around 1:56 a.m. on April 8, King and a companion entered Pure Lounge, located at 126-19 Merrick Blvd. in St. Albans. Video surveillance shows that King was frisked and allowed to enter the club. The second man was frisked by security and turned away after guards discovered he had a gun. He left briefly then returned, was searched a second time and allowed entry into the nightclub.
At approximately 2:06 a.m., Jeminson exited Pure Lounge and walked approximately 20 feet to the intersection of Merrick Boulevard and Selover Avenue. King and the second man exited the club shortly afterward, following Jemison to the intersection. Video surveillance shows King walking to the middle of Selover Avenue, where he pulled out a gun from his clothing. The second man briefly exchanged words with Jeminson, pulled a gun from his sweatshirt, pointed it at Jeminson’s face and fired, according to the charges.
Jemison ran around the corner while the two men chased him, each firing numerous times. Jeminson fell to the ground after sustaining multiple gunshot wounds. King’s companion walked up to Jeminson and fired multiple shots as he stood over the wounded man, according to prosecutors. He then walked away, stopped and returned to fire several more rounds into Jeminson’s body. After both men fired a combined 20 rounds, they ran to the corner of 177th Street and 129th Avenue, entered a parked BMW sedan and drove away.
EMS responded to the crime scene and rushed Jeminson to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead a short while later, having sustained four gunshots to the abdomen, two to the head, one to the face, one to the upper chest, one to the arm, and four to the back.
At an address for King in Hempstead where a search warrant was executed, police found in the garage the BMW in which the two men had driven away from the crime scene. King was arrested in Georgia on August 16 and extradited back to Queens.
“More senseless gun violence, more tragedy, another young life cut short,” Katz said. “It is why we cannot relent in our fight against illegal guns and why we must continue to do all that we can to get lethal firearms and the criminals who use them off of our streets.”
Queens Supreme Court Justice Bruna DiBiase ordered King to return to court on Oct. 4. If convicted, King faces 25 years to life in prison.
