A New York City Correction Officer was convicted of second-degree murder in the shooting of his ex-girlfriend, also the mother of his son then 2-years-old. At the time of the murder, Clavell was assigned to Rikers Island.
Christopher "Noel" Clavell. Photo Courtesy of Facebook
Christopher “Noel” Clavell, 48, of Staten Island, shot the victim a total of nine times, once to the chest and eight times to the head in August of 2000. He was a suspect from the beginning but was released after having been questioned. Clavell was a corrections officer for 21 years before he was suspended after his arrest in April 2011.
District Attorney Richard Brown said the defendant had “managed to escape justice for nearly thirteen years, but thanks to the hard work of the NYPD’s Queens Homicide Squad and my own Homicide Investigations Bureau and their refusal to let this case grow cold, justice has finally been achieved for the victim and her family.”
The victim, Barbara Perez, 32, was found on the floor of The Power Factory Gym on 60th Lane in Ridgewood, where she was working as an assistant manager. She opened the gym at 6:00 a.m. in the morning and was found by a fellow employee around 7:15 in the rear of the gym.
He is set for sentencing on June 27 and has been held without bail since his arrest, ironically on Rikers Island. He faces 25 years to life in prison.
According to trial testimony, several months prior to Ms. Perez’s murder, she had been involved in a proceeding in Family Court to seek child support from Clavell. He was greatly angered by her attempts to receive child support payments and continually harassed her and confronted her over the court action.
Perez reportedly told her family members that Clavell told her he’d sooner kill her than give her any money.
