Press Release

Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Joaquin Bullock was sentenced in Queens Supreme Court to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the murder of a Far Rockaway man. The defendant argued with the victim before fatally shooting him in the chest in 2018.

District Attorney Katz said: “This defendant ended a physical altercation with deadly retribution. A jury convicted him for his actions and today a judge determined his fate. We will continue to fight the plague of gun violence, on the streets and in the courts, with all our might and resources.”

Bullock, 35, of Chandler Street in Far Rockway, Queens, was sentenced today by Queens Supreme Court Justice Kenneth Holder. Following a two-week trial in November, Bullock was convicted of murder in the first degree, kidnapping in the first degree and criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree.

According to trial testimony, on Saturday, August 18, 2018, at approximately 11:00 p.m., Bullock was captured on video surveillance arguing and fighting with several males on Beach 25 Street and Brookhaven Avenue, including the victim, 28-year-old Dion Smith. The defendant returned to the scene 30 minutes after the initial altercation, grabbed the victim by the arm and forcibly removed him from the location to a dark alley on Brookhaven Avenue. Bullock then fatally shot the victim once in the chest.

Assistant District Attorney Timothy Regan, Deputy Chief of the District Attorney’s Felony Trial Bureau IV, prosecuted the case with the assistance of Assistant District Attorney Sarah Elardo under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Karen H. Rankin, Bureau Chief, and under the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney for the Supreme Court Trial Division Pishoy B. Yacoub.