Photo Courtesy of State Department of Correction
Russhawn Lindsay
By Forum Staff
A 36-year-old Queens man was sentenced to 24 years to life in prison following a jury conviction on murder and attempted robbery charges in a March 2015 robbery plot that went awry when the victim resisted.
Russhawn Lindsay, 36, of 157th Street in Kew Gardens Hills was the gunman in the attempted robbery. Last month, a jury unanimously found him guilty of second-degree murder, first- degree attempted robbery and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon. He was sentenced by Supreme Court Justice Michael Aloise who presided over the trial.
Authorities say Lindsay was approached by the victim’s girlfriend, who coordinated with another individual. The trio plotted to have the victim, 33-year-old Michael Jonathan, robbed. And on March 26, 2015, the defendant confronted Jonathan on Fonda Avenue in Jamaica. He pointed a gun at him and demanded cash. But the victim resisted and the two men struggled for the gun. Lindsay fatally shot Jonathan in the stomach.
Jonathan’s girlfriend has been indicited and her case is pending.
District Attorney Brown said, “A jury weighed all the evidence and found the defendant guilty of multiple crimes, including murder. This was a senseless act of violence. The defendant – driven by greed and avarice – thought he had an easy robbery target. Instead, a tense confrontation escalated into a needless shooting with an innocent man dead. The defendant now faces a lengthy term of incarceration.”