Press Release

Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Sean Brown pleaded guilty to manslaughter and conspiracy to commit murder in connection with the 2019 slaying of 14-year-old Aamir Griffin, who was gunned down in a South Jamaica playground when Brown mistook him for a rival gang member. Brown also pleaded guilty to a weapon possession charge in an unrelated case. He is expected to be sentenced to 30 years in prison.

District Attorney Katz said: “When I became the DA, I committed to bringing Aamir Griffin’s killer to justice. We have succeeded and will continue doing absolutely everything we can to get illegal firearms and the criminals who use them off our streets. Warring gangs are not just a threat to each other, but to all of us. Whether it was the murder of a schoolteacher walking his dog, a mother running out for milk for her children, or, in this case, a youngster playing basketball with friends, mindless gang gun violence has bloodied our streets and broken our hearts. It has not, however, shaken our resolve.”

Brown, 21, of 153^rd Street in Jamaica, plead before Queens Supreme Court Justice Kenneth Holder on two indictments, one charging him with first-degree manslaughter and second-degree conspiracy, the other with second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, a gun.

Based on the plea agreement, Brown is expected to be sentenced by Justice Holder to 25 years on the manslaughter charge, five to 15 years on the conspiracy charge, and five years for the illegal gun. The manslaughter and weapon sentences would be served consecutively, with the 30-year prison term to be followed by five years of post-release supervision. Justice Holder scheduled sentencing for April 10.

According to the charges, on October 26, 2019, at approximately 8:00 p.m., Aamir Griffin was playing basketball at the Baisley Park Houses. From nearby Foch Boulevard, reputed Money World gang member Brown mistook him for a rival gang member and fired three shots from a .380-caliber handgun. One bullet penetrated Griffin’s upper chest, pierced both his lungs, and killed him.

Last year, Brown was one of 33 reputed gang members charged in perhaps the largest gang takedown in the history of the Office of the Queens District Attorney, a wide-ranging 151-count indictment variously charging the defendants with conspiracy, murder and other crimes.

At the center of the conspiracy was the blood feud between Southeast Queens street gangs Money World and rivals Local Trap Stars and Never Forget Loyalty. While the gang war was set off by a slashing in April 2019, the tensions and violence between the warring factions escalated with Griffin’s murder. After Griffin was gunned down, there were more than 22 shootings between the gangs, one of them fatal.

Assistant District Attorney Barry Frankenstein, Deputy Bureau Chief of the District Attorney’s Violent Criminal Enterprises Bureau, is prosecuting the case with Assistant District Attorney Diana Schioppi and Assistant District Attorney Charles Dunn under the supervision of Assistant District Attorneys Jonathan Sennett, Bureau Chief, and Michelle Goldstein, Senior Deputy Chief, and under the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney for Investigations, Gerard Brave.