What to Know
- A Latin Kings gang member has pleaded guilty to murder in the 2005 shooting death of a promising college basketball player from Brooklyn
- Jaime Rivera, 34, pleaded guilty in a deal with federal prosecutors, saying he shot Tafare Berryman to "maintain my position" in the gang
- Berryman’s mother wept in court throughout Rivera’s court appearance on Thursday
A Latin Kings gang member has pleaded guilty to murder in the 2005 shooting death of a promising college basketball player from Brooklyn.
Jaime Rivera, 34, pleaded guilty in a deal with federal prosecutors, admitting in court that he shot and killed 23-year-old Tafare Berryman to “maintain my position in the Latin Kings.”
Berryman, a ball player at C.W. Post College, was two weeks from graduating when he was killed. Prosecutors said he was shot as he tried to take a friend to the hospital after a fight at a Long island nightclub on April 3, 2005.
Rivera was arrested in 2017 after acquaintances told investigators he had admitted to the shooting. The arrest brought closure to a case that was once featured on “America’s Most Wanted.”
Prosecutors said Rivera mistakenly thought Berryman had been part of a brawl outside the club involving gang members.
Berryman’s mother wept in court throughout Rivera’s court appearance on Thursday.
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“It hurt like hell,” she said of her son’s death. “And my family will never be the same again.”
Rivera is expected to be sentenced to 10 years to life for the murder.
