NEW YORK – Ashik Zaman, 20, has been indicted by a Queens County grand jury and arraigned in Supreme Court on murder, weapons charges and other crimes for two fatal shootings – one earlier this year and one last year – and a third shooting that seriously injured a man.
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said, “Petty disputes allegedly prompted this defendant to shoot and kill two men and injure a third. This has to stop, this cannot become the norm. These senseless killings show disregard for human life and the tragedy and chaos that illegal guns are causing in our communities.”
Zaman, 20, of 156th Street in Jamaica, Queens, was arraigned early this afternoon before Queens Supreme Court Justice Ushir Pandit-Durant. The defendant is charged in a 13-count indictment with two counts of murder in the second degree, four counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, attempted murder in the second degree, assault in the first degree, two counts of tampering with evidence, criminal possession of stolen property, obstructing governmental administration in the second degree and unlawful operation of a bicycle on a sidewalk. Justice Pandit-Durant remanded the defendant and ordered him to return to Court on August 3, 2021. Zaman faces up to 75 years-to-life in prison if convicted.
According to the charges, at approximately 11:40 a.m. on January 21, 2020, Zaman met with the victim, Kevin Williams, in front of the 39-year-old man’s 118th Avenue home in Jamaica, Queens. The defendant confronted Williams about money and the two argued. Then the defendant allegedly pulled out a gun and fired multiple times at the victim. Bullets struck Williams in his chest, abdomen, arm and head. He died less than an hour later.
DA Katz continued, according to the charges, on April 28, 2021, at roughly 11:40 p.m. the defendant was with a group of others shooting a music video on 134th Street in South Ozone Park, Queens. This group encountered another group of people near a liquor store and they began to argue back and forth. Video surveillance shows both groups parting ways without further incident prior to the shooting.
However, as outlined by the charges, a short time later the defendant stood by a car outside the liquor store while Kajawan Howard, who was talking on his cell phone, began to walk in the defendant’s direction. That’s when Zaman allegedly removed a firearm from his waistband and shot at Howard multiple times. Immediately following the shooting, the defendant jumped into the passenger seat of a black Infiniti and as the car sped off there was an exchange of gunfire allegedly between Zaman and a member of the opposing group. A 26-year-old man was struck and required surgery to remove his spleen and repair his colon.
Mr. Howard, who was hit once in the chest, was taken to an area hospital but succumbed to the bullet wound the following day – on his 29th birthday.
The investigation was conducted by Detective Phillip Degorter of the 106 Precinct Detective Squad, Detective James Richardson of the 113 Precinct Detective Squad, and Detectives Kevin Goodspeed and Thomas Scalise of the Queens South Homicide Squad.
