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.
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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