Gerardo “Jerry” Antoniello died trying to defend his father, the owner of Romeo’s Pizza in Ozone Park, during a 2009 home invasion. File photo
Two more men have been charged in a home invasion that ended in the murder of Gerardo “Jerry” Antoniello, a 29-year-old who was shot in the head while defending his father, the owner of a well-known Cross Bay Boulevard pizza shop, Manhattan District Attorney Preet Bharara said last week.
Antoine Burroughs, 25, and Leon Whitfield, 23, both of Manhattan, were charged in Manhattan federal court last week in the 2009 crime that forever changed the lives of a tight-knit and hardworking family. Whitfield was arrested, while Burroughs is still at large, according to the DA.
“Antoine Burroughs and Leon Whitfield allegedly targeted and robbed a Queens pizza owner and then brutally murdered his son as he tried to protect his father,” Bharara said in a statement. “This office and our law enforcement partners stand fully committed to eradicating this type of violence from our neighborhoods.”
According to the charges, Burroughs and Whitfield allegedly attempted to rob the home of Bartolomeo Antoniello, the longtime owner of Romeo’s Pizza in Ozone Park, on Sept. 9, 2009. The two Antoniellos were home at the time of the crime, and, following a struggle between Jerry Antoniello and the criminals, the 29-year-old was shot in the head and later died of his injuries, Bharara said.
The two men have each been charged with one count of robbery conspiracy and one count of attempted robbery, which each carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison; one count of discharging a firearm, which comes with a maximum sentence of life in prison; and one count of murder, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.
In 2012, Francis LaCorte, of Ozone Park, was sentenced to 50 years to life in prison for masterminding the home invasion of Bartolomeo Antoniello, who owned Romeo’s Pizza for two decades before he died several months after his son was killed.
LaCorte and another Ozone Park man, Vincent Mineo, who pleaded guilty and was sentenced in March 2012 to 20 years in prison, planned the invasion and recruited a group of criminals from throughout the city to execute the crime, prosecutors said during LaCorte’s trial.
Two other accomplices, Jason Burrell, of Brooklyn, and Rashod Cowan, of the Bronx, also were charged in the crime and pleaded guilty to first-degree burglary and first-degree attempted robbery.
“The past two and a half years have been a living hell, seeing my mother cry every day and not knowing to console her,” Angelo Antoniello, Jerry’s brother, said in a victim impact statement read during LaCorte’s trial. “The night of Sept. 9, 2009 has been playing over and over in my head and has put a strain on my personal and family life. It has made me cautious of anyone I encounter.”
The youngest of three sons, one of whom is an NYPD officer, Jerry Antoniello worked for the city Department of Education as an operating engineer at PS 127 in East Elmhurst and, just before he died, had saved up enough money to buy a condominium near St. John’s University in Fresh Meadows.
Jerry Antoniello went on to become a maintenance supervisor at PS 65 in Ozone Park and then a facilities manager at PS 242 in Whitestone before going to work at PS 127.
By Anna Gustafson
