Gunman who bragged online gets 25 to life for Bed-Stuy killing
BROOKLYN, NY – A 29-year-old Brooklyn man has been sentenced to 25 years to life in prison for fatally shooting a former friend in an execution-style attack on a Bedford-Stuyvesant street, prosecutors announced Wednesday.
The Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office said Rahmell Howell was convicted in June of second-degree murder, first-degree reckless endangerment, and two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon following a jury trial.
According to trial evidence, on September 10, 2021, around 6 p.m., the victim, 23-year-old Jermaine Isaiah Hill-Cross, was standing outside 354 Clifton Place when Howell spotted him from a nearby apartment. Howell and another man came outside, and when Hill-Cross ran, Howell chased him down the block and opened fire. The victim was shot once in the chest and died from his injuries.
During the gunfire, a 42-year-old bystander was also struck in the buttocks but survived.
Prosecutors said Hill-Cross had been lured to the neighborhood by a series of phone calls before taking a taxi from Manhattan to Brooklyn. Howell later bragged about the killing on social media. He was arrested less than two months later on November 5, 2021.
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said the case underscores the severe consequences of gun violence in the borough.
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Key Points
- Rahmell Howell, 29, was sentenced to 25 years to life for a 2021 execution-style murder in Bed-Stuy
- Victim Jermaine Hill-Cross, 23, was shot in the chest and killed; a 42-year-old bystander was also wounded
- Howell was convicted in June after evidence showed he chased the victim down the block before firing
