Press Release

DEFENDANT PLEADS GUILTY TO MANSLAUGHTER FOR APRIL 2020 STRAY BULLET SHOOTING OF NYCHA WORKER

Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Jerald Bethea has pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the first degree for the fatal shooting of 25-year-old Darrian Ramdial of Mount Vernon in April 2020. The victim was an innocent bystander at work in the Astoria Houses when he was hit by a bullet that the defendant intended for someone else.

District Attorney Katz said: “This defendant fired an illegal gun in broad daylight to settle a dispute and instead killed Darrian Ramdial, a hard-working, young Navy veteran who was not the intended target. We cannot reverse what happened but hope this plea and the expected sentence bring a measure of solace to Mr. Ramdial’s loved ones.”

Bethea, 24, of 27th Avenue in Astoria, pleaded guilty Monday to manslaughter in the first degree. Queens Supreme Court Justice Michael Aloise is expected to sentence the defendant on February 25 to 20 years in prison followed by five years of post-release supervision.

According to the charges, on April 9, 2020, at approximately 3 p.m., the victim, 25-year-old Darrian Ramdial, was working on the grounds of the Astoria Houses near 3-20 27th Avenue. At the same time, the defendant was involved in a dispute with approximately four other men in the lobby of 3-20 27th Avenue. Bethea followed the group of men outside the building and produced a pistol. He pointed it and fired nine times at the one of the men. None of the bullets hit their intended target and instead one struck Ramdial in his torso.

The victim was taken to an area hospital where he died six days later due to his gunshot injury.

Bethea fled the scene and was apprehended several months later — in October 2020 — by members of the New York City Police Department’s Felony Warrant Squad.

Senior Assistant District Attorney Timothy Shortt of the District Attorney’s Homicide Bureau is prosecuting the case under the supervision of Assistant District Attorneys John Kosinski, Bureau Chief, Karen Ross, Deputy Bureau Chief, and under the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney of Major Crimes Shawn Clark.

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