Press Release

Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Michael Hall, 36, has been sentenced to 21 years in prison for the December 2019 fatal shooting of a 45-year-old man in front of a Far Rockaway deli. The defendant pleaded guilty to manslaughter last month in Queens Supreme Court.

District Attorney Katz said, “Gun violence is an epidemic that has brought too much heartache to our communities. Last month, the defendant admitted guilt in the December 2019 shooting that took the life of a man in Far Rockaway. He has now been sentenced by the Court and will spend a lengthy time in prison as punishment for his callous actions.”

Hall, of Rockaway Beach Boulevard in Far Rockaway, Queens, pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the first degree before Queens Supreme Court Justice Ushir Pandit-Durant last month. Justice Pandit-Durant today imposed the sentence of 21 years in prison, to be followed by five years’ post release supervision.

According to Court records, at approximately 6:15 p.m., on December 18, 2019, the defendant encountered 45-year-old Dion Gumby in front of a deli convenience store near the intersection of Rockaway Beach Boulevard and Beach 88th Street. Video surveillance footage shows the two men exchanged words  before the defendant pulled out a gun and fired multiple shots. The victim was struck in the abdomen, torso and arm. Mr. Gumby succumbed to his injuries at a local hospital.

The defendant fled from the scene and was arrested approximately two weeks later.

Senior Assistant District Attorney Courtney Finnerty, of the District Attorney’s Homicide Bureau, prosecuted the case, with the assistance of Assistant District Attorneys Kaitlyn Gaskin and Christina Stephens, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorneys Peter J. McCormack III and John Kosinski, Senior Deputy Bureau Chiefs, Karen Ross, Deputy Bureau Chief, and under the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney for Major Crimes Daniel A. Saunders.

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