FAR ROCKAWAY MAN SENTENCED TO 21 YEARS TO LIFE IN PRISON FOR SHOOTING DEATH OF TENANT PATROL MEMBER

Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown today announced that a Far Rockaway man has been sentenced to 21 years in prison for the March 2000 murder at the Redfern House of a tenant patrol member who was killed when she was struck by a stray bullet during a gunfight.

District Attorney Brown said, "The death of Tenant Patrol member Maria Medina, the mother of three children, was a senseless act of gun-based violence. I hope that the Medina family takes solace knowing that justice has been done and the killer sentenced to serve a long prison term. My office will continue to work with the Police Department to rid the streets of Queens County of all illegal guns that put innocent bystanders at risk and threaten public safety."

District Attorney Brown identified the defendant as Tully Hyman, 22, of 69-41 De Costa Avenue in the Arverne section of Far Rockaway, Queens. He was convicted in March of Murder in the Second Degree, Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second and Third Degrees and Reckless Endangerment in the First Degree before Supreme Court Justice Randall T. Eng who imposed today's sentence.

Three others were also involved in the fatal shooting. Jonathan Whitmore, 28, of 1357 Dickens Street, Far Rockaway pled guilty to Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree and was sentenced to seven years in prison. Derrick Harris, 33, of 456 Beach 64th Street, Far Rockaway pled guilty to Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Third Degree and was sentenced to two years in prison. Osimba Rabsatt, 20, of Far Rockaway was acquitted of all charges.

According to trial testimony, Hyman was involved in a shootout on Hassock Street on March 10, 2000 at the Redfern Houses in Far Rockaway. The victim, Mrs. Maria Medina, was on tenant patrol in the lobby of Building 15-40 when shots rang out and a bullet passed through a door and struck her in the right side, mortally wounding her. Almost 40 shots were fired during the gunfight.

Assistant District Attorney Robert J. Schwerdt, Deputy Bureau Chief of the District Attorney's Homicide Investigations Bureau, prosecuted the case under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Peter T. Reese, Bureau Chief, and under the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney for Major Crimes Gregory L. Lasak.