The dead man's sister said in court the community is suffering from a "sad epidemic" of gun violence.
Syracuse, NY - A Syracuse man was sentenced today to 12 years in state prison for fatally shooting another man in what police said was a feud between rival drug dealers.
But Chief Assistant District Attorney Christine Garvey today said authorities really don't know the substance of the dispute that led Curtis N. Henderson to shoot and kill Raymond Johnson Jr. in January.
Garvey said forensic evidence showed both men were armed and firing handguns at each other. But authorities do not know who opened fire first, she admitted.
That was part of the basis for prosecuting Henderson on a charge of first-degree manslaughter and not second-degree murder, she said.
Henderson, 18, of 545 W. Ostrander Ave., pleaded guilty May 21 to the manslaughter charge, admitting his only intent in shooting Johnson was to cause serious injury, not to kill.
Police, responding to reports of shots fired Jan. 8, found Johnson, 26, dead and slumped over the wheel of a sport utility vehicle that had crashed into a tree behind 148 Richardson Ave.
"It's hard to say exactly what led to this," Garvey said as she left court today. She said the two men knew each other and had been involved in some kind of a dispute, but she said she could not verify that it related to a drug feud.
According to Garvey, police found five shell casings at the scene from the gun Henderson used to shoot Johnson. Police found nine shell casings from a gun Johnson was using to shoot at Henderson, the prosecutor said.
"Unfortunately,we do not know which one shot first," she said.
But Garvey said having people with guns on the street is "a recipe for disaster." Someone is bound to get hurt or killed, she noted.
Garvey said she did not know if Henderson was walking in the area and Johnson came upon him or if Johnson was sitting in his vehicle and Henderson came upon him. There was evidence Johnson had been in the neighborhood prior to the shooting, she noted.
In court today, Johnson's sister, Biallah Green, told state Supreme Court Justice John Brunetti the case was difficult for both her family and Henderson's family. She then said she hoped Henderson would take advantage of prison to rehabilitate himself.
Green said the community is suffering from a "sad epidemic" of gun violence that needs to stop before it happens again.
Garvey commended Green for her comments in hoping for Henderson's rehabilitation. The prosecutor said the victim's family understood why the prosecution took the stance it did in seeking a manslaughter conviction and 12-year sentence for Henderson.
He could have faced a maximum penalty of 25 years in prison.
"It took a lot for her to say that," the prosecutor said of Green's courtroom comments.
Green declined comment as she left court following Henderson's sentencing.
Henderson had nothing to say before being sentenced, but defense lawyer Michael Spano said Henderson still wanted to withdraw his guilty plea.
Henderson's sentencing was originally set for June but was delayed after he asked Brunetti to let him withdraw his plea.
Brunetti held a hearing to address the admissibility of non-incriminating statements Henderson made to police and concluded there was no grounds to suppress them. The judge also had Spano hire an investigator to check on the statements made by prosecution witnesses and concluded last week there was no reason to believe those witnesses would change their stories from what they told police.
Given that, Brunetti decided to go forward with Henderson's sentencing today and impose the 12-year penalty promised when the defendant pleaded guilty.
As he left court, Spano declined comment on Henderson's specific reasons for taking a plea deal and then trying to back out of it.
"He wants a trial. He wants his day in court," Spano said.
Garvey said she suspected Henderson's actions were prompted by "a change of heart" after he pleaded guilty and realized there was a lengthy prison sentence ahead of him as a result.
Henderson still has an unrelated drug case pending. Brunetti adjourned it to Oct. 5 for a discussion with Spano and drug prosecutor Bridget Scholl.
Read our previous coverage of this story.