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A school teacher was shot exiting the subway station at 41st Avenue and 21st Street.
By Forum Staff
A 22-year-old Middletown New York, man has been charged with attempted murder, criminal possession of a weapon and other charges for a shooting last month in Long Island City, that injured a woman as she exited the subway.
The defendant, identified as Snooze Brown, 22, of Tall Oaks Drive in Middletown, was arrested two days later in Nassau County – just five hundred yards from the Queens County border – allegedly in possession of an illegal firearm.
“This is yet again a perfect example of how dangerous illegal guns are and how innocent people can become a victim of senseless violence. The defendant in this case allegedly admitted to carrying a gun and having it ‘accidentally’ go off while in the midst of a violent argument with his girlfriend,” District Attorney Brown said. “A young woman was struck and could have been killed. Luckily she will survive the injury. The defendant now faces the possibility of spending a very long time locked away from civilized society.”
Brown was arraigned before Queens Criminal Court Judge Karen Topee on a complaint charging him with second-degree attempted murder, second- and third-degree criminal possession of a weapon, second- and third-degree assault and second-degree menacing.
Brown was held without bail and Judge Topee ordered him to return to court on February 22.
The Nassau County District Attorney’s Office deferred the gun possession case to DA Brown’s office for prosecution and the complaint includes counts related to that charge.
If convicted, Brown faces up to 40 years in prison. Charges state that around 7 a.m. on January 26, inside an apartment on Vernon Avenue in Long Island City, the defendant argued with his girlfriend, Monecha Sims, and struck her several times in the face. Sims locked herself inside a bathroom and called her mother on her cell phone as Brown allegedly threatened to shoot through the door. Moments later, she ran out of the bathroom, exited the apartment and ran toward the intersection of 41st Avenue and 10th Street. Brown chased her and when he caught up to her, they fought again in the street.
When Simms’ mother and a friend arrived at the scene in a vehicle, Brown pulled out a gun and began shooting at her while they watched from the car. He fired several shots which did not hit Ms. Simms Ms. Sims, however, Jaivon Mitchner, a school teacher exiting the Subway station at 41st Avenue and 21st told police she heard a loud pop and suddenly felt pain in her abdomen.
The 28-year-old educator looked down and saw a small hole in her jacket. She found another hole in her shirt and there was blood seeping from her mid-section.
Ms. Mitchner was taken to a nearby hospital and treated for a gunshot wound.
The defendant fled the scene and was being sought by the police. On January 28, 2018, at approximately 11 a.m., a member of the New York-New Jersey Regional Fugitive Task Force spotted the defendant on Doughty Boulevard in Nassau County – just five hundred yards from the Queens/Nassau border. Sergeant Cornelius Douglas stopped the defendant and recovered a loaded 9 mm semi-automatic pistol. At the time of his arrest, the defendant said, “I know I’m a fugitive. I seen myself on TV. How much time am I going to get?”
Brown continued, saying that, “the car tried to run me over. The gun I got locked up with today is going to match…I pulled the gun out of my waistband and the gun went off. It was an accident.” When asked by police why he held on to the gun after the shooting, Brown allegedly said, “I’m an idiot” and later apologized for shooting the teacher.
