File Photo
Jonathan Narain
By Forum Staff
A St. Albans man has been sentenced to 23 years in prison for a road-rage shooting that ended in the death of a City Correction officer in South Richmond Hill in September 2018, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced Thursday.
Gifford Hunter, 31, pleaded guilty in December 2019 to manslaughter in the first degree. He was sentenced on Thursday to 23 years in prison and five years’ post-release supervision.
According to court record, at approximately 1:30 a.m. on Sept. 14, 2018, Hunter, who was riding a motorcycle, encountered the victim, off-duty Correction Officer Jonathan Narain, 27, who was driving his vehicle. Hunter pulled out a gun and fired one shot into Narain’s red Honda Accord which was stopped near a red light at the intersection of 103rd Avenue and 120th Street.
According to the charges, Narain, of Richmond Hill, was found at the scene of the shooting slumped over the steering wheel of his vehicle. He later succumbed to his injuries at a nearby hospital.
“The defendant pleaded guilty to this senseless shooting that killed a dedicated corrections officer. Our deepest sympathies go out to the family of the victim,” Katz added.
Last May, family, friends, and fellow Boldest gathered at the intersection of 111th Street and Liberty Avenue as the City honored the life and work of the victim by co-naming the corner “Correction Officer Jonathan Narain Way.”
