FRIDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2005

D.A. BROWN: QUEENS MAN CHARGED IN LAST WEEKEND’S
DOUBLE HOMICIDE IN FAR ROCKAWAY

Two Others Seriously Wounded; Defendant Faces Life in Prison

Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown announced today that a Queens man has been charged with the shooting death of a young man and woman and the attempted murder of two other men last weekend. The shootings occurred at approximately 3:00 a.m. at 438 Beach 40th Street in Far Rockaway.

District Attorney Brown said, “According to the charges, the defendant – a 21-year-old male – intentionally and with depraved indifference to human life caused the death of a 23-year-old male and female and intentionally shot and seriously injured two other males using an illegal handgun inside a Far Rockaway public housing development. The crime is a shocking example of mindless gun-related violence that takes innocent lives and recklessly endangers public safety.”

The District Attorney identified the defendant as Naim Muhammad, 21, of 22-29 Dix Avenue in Far Rockaway, Queens. He was charged with four counts of Murder in the Second Degree, Attempted Murder in the Second Degree, four counts of Assault in the First Degree, two counts of Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree, two counts of Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Third Degree and one count of Reckless Endangerment in the First Degree. If convicted, the defendant faces up to 50 years to life in prison.

District Attorney Brown said that it is alleged in a criminal complaint filed by his office that, on December 11, 2005, at 2:55 a.m. inside the Beach Houses, a public housing development at 438 Beach 40th Street in Far Rockaway, Queens, the defendant Muhammad and an unapprehended other fired two semi-automatic pistols, striking Derrick Samuel, 23, at least three times throughout his body and Jeanett “Nikki” Bostick, 23, one time in the chest, fatally wounding them. The District Attorney said that Muhammad and the unapprehended other are further alleged to have shot a 21-year-old male in the arm and a 20-year-old male in the leg, seriously wounding them. They are currently being treated at a Queens hospital. Additionally, the defendant is charged with intentionally attempting to shoot a fifth person, who was not wounded.

District Attorney Brown said that Muhammad, who was arrested Wednesday, December 14, 2005, by members of New York City Police Department’s 101st Precinct Detective Squad, is being held pending arraignment later today in Queens Criminal Court.

The investigation was conducted by Detectives Gary Mazzei and Kevin Cashen of the NYPD’s 101st Precinct Detective Squad under the supervision of Sergeant Raymond Johnson, Commanding Officer.

Senior Assistant District Attorney Neal J. Morse of the District Attorney’s Homicide Investigations Bureau is prosecuting the case under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Peter T. Reese, Bureau Chief, and Peter J. McCormack III, Deputy Bureau Chief, and the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney for Major Crimes Charles A. Testagrossa and Deputy Executive Assistant District Attorney for Major Crimes Daniel A. Saunders.

It should be noted that a criminal complaint is merely an accusation and that a defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.