What to Know
- Ryan Carson was waiting for a bus in Brooklyn when an 18-year-old Bed-Stuy man allegedly stabbed the community advocate to death in front of his girlfriend
- Police executed a warrant for an apartment located near the scene of the fatal crime for clothing worn by the suspect when they found the suspect himself inside that apartment, sources have said
- Brian Dowling faces 25 years to life in prison if convicted. He is being held without bail and is due back in court in early December
The man who turned himself in for the killing of a community advocate in Brooklyn earlier this month stabbed his victim several times, delivering a blow that struck the man's heart, prosecutors revealed on Friday.
Brian Dowling, 18, was arraigned on an indictment for the Oct. 2 murder of Ryan Carson, Brooklyn DA Eric Gonzalez said in a press release. The accused killer faces up to 25 years to life in prison if convicted on charges of murder and weapon possession.
Carson, 32, was waiting for a bus around 4 a.m. in Bed-Stuy near the corner of Lafayette Avenue and Malcolm X Boulevard with his girlfriend after attending a wedding when a Dowling allegedly started kicking what appeared to be trash on the street, surveillance video showed, apparently after a fight with his girlfriend. The man could be heard cursing and threatening Carson saying, "I'm going to kill you right now."
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Carson is heard on the video trying to de-escalate the situation as the man approached him.
"Chill, chill, chill," Carson said.
Prosecutors allege Dowling, appearing to hold a knife in his right hand, took a swing at Carson's face and when Carson tried to run away and tripped over the bus bench, the suspect stabbed Carson multiple times, according to the video. One of those blows struck Carson's heart, Gonzalez said.
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The surveillance video also showed the suspect attacking Carson's girlfriend. While Carson is bleeding on the pavement, the suspect spit at her, kicked Carson, and then ran away.
After the stabbing, a woman believed to be Dowling's girlfriend is seen on surveillance apologizing to Carson's girlfriend.
When Dowling took off, prosecutors allege he tossed the murder weapon, but came looking for it moments later. The knife was later found "under greenery next to a nearby sidewalk."
Dowling was arrested later that week after reportedly turning himself in to authorities. Police executed a search warrant of his apartment located near the fatal crime and found clothing worn by the suspect during the attack and knives with similar handles to the one recovered near the scene, sources said.
“Ryan Carson was a promising and passionate man who worked to make our society better. Many of us watched the horrific video that showed his life being snuffed away senselessly, for no reason at all. We will now seek to hold his alleged killer fully accountable for this unspeakably brutal murder," Gonzalez said Friday.
Dowling was ordered held without bail and is due back in court in early December. Attorney information for the 18-year-old was not immediately known.
Carson was active in public policy advocacy on a range of issues, including climate change and harm reduction.
"He is a larger than life character," said Blair Horner, executive director of NYPIRG, who worked with Carson. "He's very, very jovial, and charismatic staff loved him. His students loved him."
"It's a terrible tragedy. The world will be somewhat less well off because of his absence."
The investigation is going.
