QUEENS, NY — A Maryland man who fatally shot his children’s grandfather in Springfield Gardens in 2022 was sentenced Thursday to 25 years to life in prison, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced.
Sheldon Dottin, 51, of Waldorf, Maryland, was convicted in April of second-degree murder and two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon. The jury deliberated for less than an hour before reaching a guilty verdict.
According to trial records, Dottin shot 72-year-old Gladstone Barrett, the grandfather of his two children, on April 1, 2022, at Barrett’s home on Guy R. Brewer Boulevard. After a brief confrontation, Dottin shot Barrett, striking his right hand, esophagus, and liver.
Barrett identified Dottin as the shooter both to his wife and to a responding police officer wearing a body camera before being transported to a hospital. He died of his injuries 18 days later, on April 19.
“The defendant thought he could get away with murder by escaping to Panama,” Katz said in a statement. “We hope today’s sentencing provides a measure of comfort to the victim’s grieving relatives.”
Fled to Panama after shooting
Prosecutors said Dottin traveled from New Jersey to Barrett’s home in a rented Cadillac, arriving at the residence around 3 p.m. while wearing a hat, mask, and windbreaker. After the shooting, he fled to Panama, where he was apprehended by authorities while attempting to board a flight to Trinidad.
Dottin had been in a long-term relationship with Barrett’s daughter, and the couple lived with Barrett before moving to Maryland in 2016. The relationship ended in early 2022, a decision Barrett had supported.
Supreme Court Justice Michael Aloise, who presided over the trial, handed down the sentence.