FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, October 24, 2019
Brooklyn Man Sentenced to 22 Years to Life in Prison for Execution of
Car Mechanic Inside Canarsie Auto Body Shop
Defendant Caught on Surveillance Video Standing Over Victim and Firing Weapon
Three Times at Point Blank Range
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez today announced that a Flatbush man has been sentenced to 22 years to life in prison for fatally shooting a car mechanic at a Canarsie auto body shop after confronting him about a dispute over money.
District Attorney Gonzalez said, “This defendant executed a hardworking and defenseless father of three in a chilling attack that was captured on videotape. The defendant’s senseless actions left a family and community without a husband, father, grandfather and friend. He will now have plenty of time to think about his conduct.”
The District Attorney identified the defendant as Richard Essor, 35, of Flatbush, Brooklyn. The defendant was sentenced today by Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Dineen Riviezzo to 22 years to life in prison. He was convicted of second-degree murder and two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon on October 3, 2019, following a jury trial.
The District Attorney said that, according to the evidence, on September 29, 2017, at approximately 7 p.m., the defendant confronted Dexton Simpson, 51, at Total Auto Care on East 98th Street in Canarsie to demand money from the victim, who had agreed to pay for damage he caused while repairing the defendant’s car. When the defendant learned the victim did not have the full amount he was owed, the defendant left the shop to retrieve a loaded semi-automatic pistol.
A short time later, the defendant returned to the auto body shop and confronted the victim, who was crouched down doing work on a car. Video surveillance shows that the defendant stood over the victim, pulled a pistol out of his waistband and held it above him for more than 20 seconds before he fired two shots into the victim’s chest. The defendant fired a third shot into the victim’s back as he tried to get away.
After the shooting, the defendant walked out of the shop and drove away. Investigators quickly identified the defendant and issued a travel alert. Police received an alert that the defendant purchased a flight to Jamaica scheduled to depart on September 30, 2017 at 7:15 a.m. The defendant was arrested with over $1,600 in cash as he boarded the plane.
The case was prosecuted by Senior Assistant District Attorney Jamie Begley, of the District Attorney’s Homicide Bureau, and Assistant District Attorney Sarah Lyon, of the District Attorney’s Blue Zone Trial Bureau, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Timothy Gough, Homicide Bureau Chief.
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