FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, August 20, 2025
Brooklyn Man Sentenced to 25 Years to Life in Prison for
Execution Style Murder in Bedford-Stuyvesant
Victim Lured to Neighborhood in Premeditated Plot as Defendant Lay in Wait
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez today announced that a Brooklyn man has been sentenced to 25 years to life in prison for fatally gunning down another man in Bedford-Stuyvesant.
District Attorney Gonzalez said, “This defendant opened fire in broad daylight on a crowded street, killing his intended target and striking an innocent bystander. He was arrested and prosecuted following a thorough investigation and has now been held accountable. My thoughts today are with the young victim’s devastated family. Acts of gun violence in Brooklyn will always lead to severe consequences.”
The District Attorney identified the defendant Rahmell Howell, 29, of Brooklyn. He was sentenced today by Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Danny Chun to 25 years to life in prison. The defendant was convicted of second-degree murder, first-degree reckless endangerment and two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon on June 16, 2025, following a jury trial.
The District Attorney said that, according to the evidence, on September 10, 2021, at approximately 6 p.m., the victim, Jermaine Isaiah Hill-Cross, 23, was standing in front of 354 Clifton Place. At the time, the defendant and another individual were inside an apartment located at 366 Clifton Place. Upon seeing the victim, the defendant and the other person immediately exited the apartment and walked up to the victim. The defendant was brandishing a gun, and the victim ran away. The defendant then chased the victim down Clifton Place, according to the evidence, and fired six shots, striking the victim once in the chest. A 42-year-old man standing on the block was struck once in the buttocks.
The victim, who was a former friend of the defendant and went to school with him, was lured to the area after getting some phone calls an hour before the murder, taking a taxi from Manhattan to Brooklyn, according to the evidence.
The defendant, who boasted about the shooting on social media, was arrested on November 5, 2021.
The case was prosecuted by Senior Assistant District Attorney Jonathan Visotzky, of the District Attorney’s Homicide Bureau, and Assistant District Attorney Han Zhang, of the District Attorney’s Blue Zone Trial Bureau, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Leila Rosini, Homicide Bureau Chief.
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