Seven people are facing criminal charges stemming from last year's deadly baby shower in Queens when officials said a gang-related shootout tore apart the celebration and resulted in the killing of a 24-year-old man.
The district attorney in the borough released details Friday from a 55-count grand jury indictment identifying six men, and a seventh person not yet arrested, allegedly involved in the May 4 gun battle.
According to DA Melinda Katz's office, two men approached the Volume Seventeen venue in Richmond Hill around 1:30 a.m. and opened fire on a group of about a dozen people who had been standing around outside. The group scattered, with many running for cover inside.
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WATCH HEREThe indictment alleges the men continued firing through the windows of the venue, injuring three people and fatally striking 24-year-old Jefari Dobie-Reinhardt, of Great Neck.
More than 40 people had gathered at the Atlantic Avenue venue for the baby shower, including four young children, prosecutors said.
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SIGN UP Surveillance video recovered around the time of the shooting captured the sound of gunshots, just as a white car was seen speeding away from the area. Additional video from the scene shows detectives pouring through a crime scene littered with party decorations and dozens of bullet casings.
"It was a scene out of the Wild West with at least 35 bullet casings recovered as two groups of rivals fired at each other, and a 24-year-old man lost his life in the process," Katz said in a statement.
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Four men in their early 20s were each charged in with criminal possession of a weapon, reckless endangerment, criminal possession of a firearm, endangering the welfare of a child. One of those men, a 20-year-old, allegedly snuck a gun into a tray of food and carried it out of the venue.
A 50-year-old Brooklyn man was also hit with weapons charges and tampering with physical evidence. Katz's office said he was the expecting grandfather at the baby shower and dropped a gun into a tray of rice after the firearm was handed to him. The man's 26-year-old son was charged with tampering for allegedly placing a cover over the tray of rice.
According to the district attorney, a 9 mm Sig Sauer pistol was found in a tray of rice inside of a garbage bag at the venue.
Following the shooting, neighbors told News 4 that the venue typically hosts parties that get out of control.
"This place is a problem. Since it opened it’s a problem: fighting, drugs, gunshots," Wasir Rasul, who has lived in the area for nearly 20 years, said. "I hope they close it down after this."
