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Jeffers shot the woman inside her 117th Street residence.
By Forum Staff
A Far Rockaway man has been sentenced to 18 years in prison after pleading guilty to shooting his girlfriend in her South Ozone Park apartment in 2019, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced Thursday.
Vernon Jeffers, 44, pleaded guilty on Nov. 9, 2021, to attempted murder. He was sentenced last week to 18 years in prison, to be followed by five years’ post-release supervision.
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DA Katz said the 48-year-old victim survived, “but continues to deal with the burden of her physical and psychological injuries.”
According to court records, shortly after 2 a.m. on Jan. 19, 2019, the defendant entered the 117th Street apartment of the 48-year-old victim, shot her twice while she was in bed, and fled the scene. The woman was able to call 911 and report that she had been shot by her boyfriend. The defendant was apprehended three days later.
Continuing, the DA said, the victim required surgery to treat her injuries, which included a lacerated liver. A bullet remains lodged near her spine.
District Attorney Katz said, “This defendant was sentenced for using a deadly firearm to twice shoot his
then-girlfriend in the chest while she was helpless in bed. Luckily, she survived but continues to deal with the burden of her physical and psychological injuries.”
Katz also noted that Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Camillo, of the DA’s Domestic Violence Bureau, prosecuted the case, with the assistance of Assistant District Attorney Afroza Yeasmin, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorneys Kenneth Appelbaum, Acting Bureau Chief, Audra Beerman, Deputy Chief, Mary Kate Quinn, Assistant Deputy Chief, Howard McCallum, Supervisor, and under the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney for Major Crimes Daniel Saunders.
