Press Release

Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Damion Howell was convicted of murder and other crimes for the August 2022 shooting death of Julian Askew, 29, on Waltham Street in Jamaica. The defendant fled the United States after the victim died and was apprehended nine months later.

District Attorney Katz said: “Damion Howell propositioned a woman at a local bodega and got into an argument with her boyfriend. Thirty minutes later, he returned to the scene with an illegal weapon and shot the man. Victim Julian Askew was left paralyzed in the shooting and suffered for three months before ultimately losing his life to the injuries he sustained in this shooting incident. I thank my prosecutors for getting justice for Askew’s family and for our law enforcement partners who never relented in their search for the defendant and apprehended him nine months after the shooting.”

Howell, 42, of Flushing, Queens, was convicted yesterday of murder in the second degree, and two counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree. Trial openings took place on August 4, 2026, and closings occurred on August 11, 2026. The jury deliberated for approximately two hours before reaching a verdict.

Justice Ushir Pandit-Durant set a sentencing date of September 9, 2026, at which time the defendant faces up to 25 years to life in prison.

According to the charges and trial testimony, on August 5, 2022, at approximately 1:11 a.m., the defendant was inside a bodega located at 106-32 Sutphin Boulevard, Queens, when he approached the girlfriend of victim Julian Askew. Howell propositioned the woman for sex, and she told Askew that the defendant made her feel uncomfortable. Askew then approached defendant Howell and the two engaged in an oral argument.

Howell left the location, returned approximately 30 minutes later wearing different clothing and immediately approached Askew. The two men then walked to the end of the block and as they arrived at the corner, Howell produced a gun and shot Askew in the torso. The girlfriend, who was following behind the two men, observed the shooting and called 911. The defendant fled the location immediately after shooting.

The victim was transported to a local Queens hospital and was initially paralyzed from the waist down. He died on November 14, 2022, as a result of injuries sustained in the shooting.

Howell left the country and traveled to the United Kingdom 11 days after Askew succumbed to his injuries, and was apprehended on May 10, 2023, when he returned to JFK airport.

Assistant District Attorneys Nicole Rella and Antonio Vittiglio, of the District Attorney’s Homicide Bureau, are prosecuting the case under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney John Kosinski, Bureau Chief, Karen Ross and Jonathan Selkowe, Deputy Chiefs, and under the overall supervision of Chief Assistant District Attorney Shawn Clark.