NEW YORK — A 31-year-old Brooklyn man has been sentenced to 21 years to life in prison for fatally shooting to death a 46-year-old man who he followed into a busy Crown Heights gas station in the middle of the day.
District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said, “Such brazen shootings will not be tolerated in Brooklyn. We are committed to ending gun violence in our communities and will continue to hold accountable those who put others in harm’s way. This murder left the victim’s son and many family members devastated. I hope they find some solace in today’s sentence.”
The District Attorney identified the defendant as Andre Rodriguez, 31, of Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. The defendant was sentenced to 21 years to life in prison by Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice John Ingram. He was convicted of second-degree murder and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon on January 28, 2019, following a jury trial.
The District Attorney said that, according to the investigation, on June 17, 2017, at approximately 12 noon, the defendant and another man followed the victim, Keith Vereen, 46, to a BP gas station at the corner of Atlantic Avenue and Utica Avenue in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. The defendant and an alleged accomplice approached the victim while he was at a gas pump filling up his truck. The defendant walked up to the victim, immediately pressed a gun to the victim’s chest and shot him.
Surveillance video shows the defendant approach the victim with a handgun and point the weapon at him. The video also shows the defendant drop a cell phone during the altercation. DNA analysis revealed that the cell phone recovered at the crime scene contained the defendant’s DNA.
