NEW YORK – A Brooklyn man has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for fatally shooting his own brother inside their shared apartment in East New York, Brooklyn.
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said, “This is a senseless and tragic case that destroyed a family – one brother is dead, and another is behind bars. The defendant admitted his guilt and will now have to live with the consequences of this terrible decision.”
Jahmorley Gayle, 36, of East New York, Brooklyn was sentenced to 15 years in prison and five years’ post release supervision following his guilty plea to first-degree manslaughter in September.
The District Attorney said that, according to the evidence, on April 22, 2018, at approximately 11:45 a.m., the defendant called 911 and initially told responding officers that someone killed his brother, Jahimel Gayle, 37, inside their East New York apartment. The victim’s lifeless body was found wedged against the bedroom door, which had a head-level bullet hole. He suffered a fatal wound to his neck.
Officers found a gun in the kitchen cabinet, which matched the ballistic evidence and contained the defendant’s DNA on the trigger and trigger guard. Despite the defendant’s initial claim that another person committed the murder, video surveillance showed that no one entered the apartment at the time of the crime and outer windows of the apartment were secured with bars. The defendant later made a statement admitting to killing his brother.
A forensic psychiatrist contradicted the defense claim that the defendant suffered from acute delusional disorder at the time of the murder and concluded that his actions stemmed from heavy cocaine use that led to cocaine induced psychotic disorder.
The case was prosecuted by Senior Assistant District Attorney Robert Schwartz, of the District Attorney’s Homicide Bureau, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Timothy Gough, Bureau Chief.
