Photo Courtesy of Fundly
Taquane Clarke, 21, was shot and killed during the December 2014 incident.
By Forum Staff
A Queens man has been sentenced to 65 years to life in prison for murder and other charges for a violent home invasion in December of 2014, that left one man dead and another seriously injured. District Attorney Brown said, “The defendant in this case participated in an afternoon of horrors for one Queens family. This defendant was one of three masked men to force his way into a Jamaica, Queens, apartment. When the culprits fled the scene, a 21-year-old man was shot and killed and his uncle seriously injured. The sentence imposed by the Court… is more than warranted for this vicious crime.”
Elijah Gough, 31, of 116th Avenue in Jamaica was found guilty of second-degree murder, first-degree assault, first-degree burglary, first-degree attempted burglary, second-degree kidnapping and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon.
Queens Supreme Court Justice Kenneth C. Holder sentenced Gough to 65 years to life in prison.
According to trial testimony, around 6 p.m. on December 5, 2014, three masked men forced their way into the 2nd floor apartment of the Legister family in Jamaica. Mace was sprayed in the face of Jonathan Legister and then he was held at gunpoint, along with his 74-year-old mother, Olive Legister.
Mr. Legister’s nephew, Taquane Clarke, 21, was killed when he was shot in the head in his bedroom. Mr. Legister was forced into the rear of the apartment, where one of the assailants demanded property and shot the victim in the leg and abdomen. Mr. Legister survived his injuries. During the home invasion Gough was also shot in the leg and limped his way out of the apartment, but only got as far as the neighbor’s yard. The defendant hid for hours there until he got a ride and was taken to the hospital. Police recovered the defendant’s mask, a backpack and a sneaker in that yard. Analysis of the mask was a match for defendant Gough’s DNA.
