Syracuse, NY - A Syracuse man admitted his guilt today in the fatal shooting of another man that police said stemmed from a feud between the two rival drug dealers. Curtis N. Henderson, 18, of 545 W. Ostrander Ave., pleaded guilty before state Supreme Court Justice John Brunetti to a felony charge of first-degree manslaughter in the death of Raymond...
Syracuse, NY - A Syracuse man admitted his guilt today in the fatal shooting of another man that police said stemmed from a feud between the two rival drug dealers.
Curtis N. Henderson, 18, of 545 W. Ostrander Ave., pleaded guilty before state Supreme Court Justice John Brunetti to a felony charge of first-degree manslaughter in the death of Raymond Johnson Jr.
Brunetti promised Henderson a sentence of 12 years in state prison and set sentencing for June 25. Henderson could have faced a maximum penalty of 25 years in prison.
But Chief Assistant District Attorney Christine Garvey said the victim's family was satisfied with the plea deal worked out by the prosescution to resolve the case.
Police said Henderson and Johnson were rival drug dealers who had been involved in an ongoing feud before the dispute turned deadly the morning of Jan.8.
Johnson, 26, was sitting in a sport utility vehicle in the 100 block of Richardson Avenue when Henderson walked up and fired six to seven shots at him from close range, officials said.
Johnson was found dead behind the wheel of the vehicle after it ran off the street, through a yard and crashed into a tree behind 148 Richardson Ave., police said.
Henderson originally was charged with second-degree intentional murder in Johnson's death. But a county grand jury indicted him only on the lesser manslaughter charge.
In pleading guilty to that charge, Henderson admitted he was acting only with the intent to seriously injure Johnson, not with any intent to kill him.