BROOKLYN, NY — A 42-year-old Brooklyn man has been sentenced to 25 years to life in prison for the fatal, close-range shooting of an unarmed man in a Brownsville public housing complex courtyard, prosecutors announced Thursday.
Corey Townsend was convicted of second-degree murder and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon in April following a jury trial. He was sentenced by Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Eugene Guarino.
According to the evidence, on June 17, 2020, around 9:05 p.m., Townsend approached 47-year-old Romaine Mazyck as he sat on a bench in the courtyard of the Howard Houses at 80 Osborn Street. Townsend then fired five shots, striking Mazyck in the head and torso before fleeing. The victim was pronounced dead at Brookdale Hospital.
Townsend was arrested in March 2021. During the investigation, he gave conflicting accounts of the incident, which prosecutors described as inconsistent with the evidence presented at trial.
District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said, “This was a senseless, execution-style killing of a man who posed no threat.”
Corey Townsend will serve 25 years to life for fatally shooting a seated man at point-blank range in a Brownsville NYCHA courtyard.