FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, June 5, 2018
Bedford-Stuyvesant Man Sentenced to 25 Years to Life in Prison for Fatally Shooting Neighbor Over Financial Dispute
Defendant Called Victim to Lure Him Out of Apartment; Shot Victim Five Times
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez today announced that a 36-year-old Brooklyn man has been sentenced to 25 years to life in prison for fatally shooting his neighbor five times in the stairwell of their building over an $8 dispute.
District Attorney Gonzalez said, “This defendant stalked and lured a man out of his home to settle a score. His cruel actions ended a man’s life and placed everyone in the building in danger. We will not tolerate this type of violence and will continue to prosecute anyone who takes the law into their own hands.”
The District Attorney identified the defendant as Christopher Chandler, 36, of Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. He was sentenced yesterday by Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice John Hecht to 25 years to life in prison following his conviction last month on charges of second-degree murder and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon after a jury trial.
The District Attorney said that, according to trial testimony, on April 21, 2016, at approximately 3:15 p.m., the defendant called the victim, Kenric Tomlin, 45, on the phone to lure him out of his apartment at 940 Gates Avenue in Bedford-Stuyvesant. The defendant and Tomlin were neighbors and acquaintances. After Tomlin exited his apartment, the defendant shot him in the stairwell of the building. Tomlin fell into the hallway and the defendant executed him by shooting two more times. Tomlin was shot a total of five times in the back and torso. He was taken to Woodhull Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Following the shooting, the defendant hid the firearm in the backpack of his then-girlfriend, who unwittingly carried it out of the building when the police arrived. After exiting the building, the defendant hid at a distant relative’s home in New Jersey, where police tracked him by his cell phone on June 6, 2016, according to the investigation.
According to trial testimony, the defendant owed the victim $8 and shot him after being taunted and feeling disrespected because of the debt.
The case was prosecuted by Senior Assistant District Attorney Chow Yun Xie, of the District Attorney’s Homicide Bureau, and Assistant District Attorney Michelle Murray, of the District Attorney’s Grey Zone Trial Bureau, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Timothy Gough, Homicide Bureau Chief.
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