Press Release
QUEENS MAN SENTENCED TO 22 YEARS FOR FATAL SHOOTING
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Tyseam McRae was sentenced to 22 years in prison for manslaughter, assault and robbery for three separate incidents, including the fatal shooting of an 18-year-old man in Rochdale in October 2019.
District Attorney Katz said: “A violent, dangerous man is going to prison for a long time. The people of Queens will be safer for it.”
McRae, 21, of 152nd Street in Jamaica, pleaded guilty in January to manslaughter in the first degree, assault in the second degree and robbery in the first degree before Queens Supreme Court Justice Kenneth Holder, who imposed a 22-year prison sentence followed by five years post-release supervision for manslaughter; five years in prison and five years of post-release supervision for assault; and five years in prison and five years post-release supervision for robbery. The three sentences are concurrent.
According to the charges against McCrae:
On October 18, 2017, at approximately 3:30 p.m., near the intersection of Sutphin Boulevard and Archer Avenue, McRae got into a livery cab with a male associate. When a female fellow passenger disembarked and paid her fare, McRae grabbed cash from the driver’s hand and pulled a knife and threatened him. When McRae and his associate got out of the cab, McRae picked up a rock and threatened to hit the driver. He took the driver’s wallet and fled.
On May 10, 2019, at approximately 1:30 p.m., McRae and four associates became involved in a verbal dispute inside a McDonald’s restaurant on Baisley Boulevard near Bedell Street, accusing two 18-year-old males of providing information to the NYPD. McRae and his associates pushed, punched and kicked the two teens, then followed them as they attempted to get away. McRae grabbed one of the two and held him in place while one of his associates punched him in the face several times.
In a third incident, on October 23, 2019, at approximately 7:53 p.m., McRae encountered 18-year-old David LaPointe of Elmont at a party and accused him of belonging to a rival gang. After LaPointe left the party, McRae and two associates followed him to 160th Street near 129th Avenue, where McRae confronted LaPointe and punched him in in the face. LaPointe ran away, heading eastbound on 129th Avenue. Using a .380 caliber pistol, McRae fired a single shot striking LaPointe in the back of his head. McCrae was arrested days after the incident.
Assistant District Attorney Thomas Rooney prosecuted the homicide case and Assistant District Attorney Diana Schioppi prosecuted the robbery and assault cases, both of the Violent Criminal Enterprise Bureau, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorneys Jonathan Sennett, Bureau Chief, Michelle Goldstein, Senior Deputy Bureau Chief, Philip Anderson and Barry Frankenstein, Deputy Bureau Chiefs, and under the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney for Investigations Gerard Brave.