Photo Courtesy of DA Katz
“There is no place for such senseless and brutal acts in Queens County,” DA Katz said.
By Forum Staff
A Ridgewood man has been convicted of attempted murder for shooting a pedestrian in the stomach and robbing him of his backpack on the Horace Harding Expressway in Corona in June 2020, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced Tuesday.
Orlando Plummer, 47, was convicted Monday after a two-week jury trial. Plummer was found guilty of attempted murder in the second degree, assault in the first degree, robbery in the first degree, and criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree. Sentencing has been set for Sept. 6.
According to trial testimony, at approximately 4 p.m. on June 14, 2020, near the intersection of Horace Harding Expressway and Calloway Street, Plummer confronted the victim, McAntoine Valery, 44, after following him for approximately 50 minutes as he traveled from Forest Hills to Corona. Plummer was accompanied by two accomplices who drove in a silver Mitsubishi vehicle. The masked Plummer and the two others approached the victim and accosted him, punching him repeatedly. Plummer then hit the victim on the head with a hard object and directed his confederates to take the victim’s backpack. Plummer shot the victim once in the stomach, took the victim’s backpack, and then left the scene on foot.
Photo Courtesy of Google
Plummer confronted the victim near the intersection of Horace Harding Expressway and Calloway Street, after following him for approximately 50 minutes as he traveled from Forest Hills to Corona.
The victim was taken to a local hospital where he required surgery and 36 staples to treat his extensive injuries which included gunshot entry and exit wounds on his abdomen and back and internal organ damage.
According to court testimony, video surveillance footage of Plummer near the scene of the incident and earlier that day unmasked in the same clothing led detectives to his identification.
“This defendant shot an innocent man following a violent robbery in broad daylight, leaving him clinging to life,” Katz said. “There is no place for such senseless and brutal acts in Queens County.”
Plummer faces a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison.
