Press Release

Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Johnathan Rice was indicted by a grand jury and arraigned on one charge of murder in the second degree for the 2018 shooting death of 35-year-old Frank Synder, a rapper and party promoter known as “Hollywood Play.” Synder was fatally struck outside the Tavern Lounge in Woodhaven, where he was hosting an event for a friend’s birthday.

District Attorney Katz said: “My office does not give up on cases. After a long-term investigation, we secured an indictment charging Johnathan Rice with the senseless 2018 murder of Frank Snyder. The defendant is alleged to have fatally shot the victim as he stood outside a Woodhaven bar where he worked as a promoter. I thank my prosecutors and the NYPD members who diligently investigated this cold-case homicide.”

Rice, 43, of 178^th Street in Jamaica, was arraigned today on an indictment charging him with murder in the second degree.

Supreme Court Justice Kenneth Holder ordered the defendant to return to court on November 14. If convicted, he faces up to 25 years to life in prison.

According to the charges:

• On October 7, 2018, at approximately 3:15 a.m., video surveillance showed Synder, 35, and a group of individuals standing outside the Tavern Lounge at 97-07 Jamaica Avenue in Woodhaven.
• A black sedan can be observed on video drive by the entrance of the bar, with multiple muzzle flashes coming from the front passenger side window before the car sped off.
• Synder, who was the only one hit by the gunfire, fell to the ground. He was taken to a local hospital with a gunshot wound to his left torso and left thigh and died from his injuries.
• Motor vehicle registration records showed that Rice owned a black Lexus that matched the description of the car seen on video.
• During the investigation, cell phone records for Rice were obtained that placed him in the vicinity of the Tavern Lounge at the time of the shooting.

Assistant District Attorney Ryan Nicolosi, of the District Attorney’s Homicide Bureau, is prosecuting the case with the assistance of Assistant District Attorney Veronika Podoprigora under the supervision of Assistant District Attorneys Karen Ross, Cold Case Unit Chief and Homicide Bureau Deputy Chief, and John Kosinski, Bureau Chief, and under the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney for Major Crimes Shawn Clark.