NEW YORK, NY – A gunman who threatened a transgendered woman on the street in Jamaica Queens last September simply because she was trans has been sentenced to 5 years in prison after pleading guilty to attempted criminal possession of a weapon on Monday.
According to Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz, Quame Truitt, 24, has been sentenced to five years in prison for a September 2021 incident in which they pointed an illegal firearm at a transgender woman in Jamaica.
District Attorney Katz said, “The defendant threatened a transgender woman just because she is a transgender woman. While being chased by police, the defendant discarded the gun. It was recovered and the defendant apprehended. He has now been sentenced by the Court for his criminal actions. The diversity of Queens County is our greatest strength and we will not tolerate acts of violence based on someone’s race, gender or appearance.”
Court records show that earlier this month, Truitt, of 162nd Street in Jamaica, Queens, pleaded guilty to attempted criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree before Queens Supreme Court Justice Frances Wang. Today, Justice Wang sentenced the Truitt as a violent predicate felon to five years in prison, to be followed by five years post-release supervision.
According to the Court records, on September 5, 2021, the woman was walking along 162nd Street in Jamaica just after 6 p.m. when she encountered the defendant. When the two were near one another, Truitt reached toward his waist and told the victim, “You don’t belong here.”
Continuing, the DA said, “The defendant pulled a pistol from a bag and pointed it at the victim. The woman got away from the defendant and found a police officer in a nearby patrol car and alerted him of what had happened. She also provided the police officer with a description of the man who pointed a gun at her. The defendant was apprehended a short time later and police recovered the firearm in an area trash can.”