What to Know
- Carey Gabay was caught in the crossfire between two gangs at a Brooklyn festival ahead of the West Indian Day Parade in September
- He was shot in the head, and spent a week in a coma before passing away
- Three suspects face murder charges in his death and a fourth is accused of possessing a machine gun at the scene
Three men face murder charges and another man is charged with a weapons offense in the 2015 shooting death of an aide to Gov. Cuomo, prosecutors said Wednesday.
The suspects charged with murder, all alleged gang members, are being held equally responsible for the death of Carey Gabay, who was caught in the crossfire between two gangs along the West Indian Day Parade route Sept. 7.
Gabay had been at a predawn festival leading up to the parade when he was shot in the head. The 43-year-old Harvard-educated lawyer and Bronx native died after being hospitalized for more than a week while in a coma.
Micah Alleyne, 24, Tyshawn Crawford, 21, and Keith Luncheon, 24, are named in a 16-count indictment charging them with various counts of second-degree murder, second-degree criminal possession of a weapon and first-degree reckless endangerment. Each faces up to 25 years in prison on the top count.
Stanley Elianor, 25, had previously been charged with multiple counts of criminal possession of a weapon for allegedly possessing a machine gun at the scene. He was arraigned in October and faces up to 15 years in prison.
Alleyne, Crawford and Luncheon didn't speak at their arraignment Wednesday. Information on their attorneys wasn't immediately available.
The J’ouvert festival Gabay had been attending and the parade that follows attract hundreds of thousands of revelers to Brooklyn every Labor Day but have been marred by several shootings in recent years.
Local
Prosecutors say two to three dozen shots were fired from at least eight firearms when Gabay was hit. They say multiple gang members were in the area amid heightened tensions and intended to shoot at rivals on sight; Gabay was an unintended target and had tried to hide behind a parked car.
In a statement, Cuomo said Gabay helped New York pass the nation's toughest gun safety law, but that his death shows the inadequacy of federal gun laws.
"Carey Gabay was a dedicated public servant whose life was cut short due to reckless gun violence – tragedy that plagues too many of our communities," Cuomo said. "While we took a great step forward with our historic legislation, without action from Congress, known criminals will continue to buy guns in other states today and sell them on the black market in New York tomorrow."
