A Long Island City man on Friday, Jan. 28, was sentenced to 19 years in jail for the 2020 fatal shooting of a public school social research teacher who was out strolling his canine when he was caught in the crossfire throughout a confrontation between gang rivals in broad daylight, simply blocks from his residence, in line with Queens District Legal professional’s workplace.
Ike Ford, 19, of twelfth Road, in Long Island City, pleaded responsible to manslaughter in the primary diploma earlier than Queens Supreme Court docket Justice Kenneth Holder. The teacher, George Rosa, 53, was shot in his stomach by a stray bullet fired by Ford, who was simply 17 years previous at the time of the shooting however was sentenced as an grownup given the severity of the crime, in line with Queens District Legal professional Melinda Katz.
The incident occurred at the northeast nook of the Queensbridge Houses at round 11:20 a.m. on July 25, 2020, when Rosa was strolling his canine alongside fortieth Avenue between twenty first and twenty second Streets, in line with the costs. Ford, and his fellow gang member Delante Aiken, fired a number of pictures at a rival gang member however missed the goal and struck Rosa as an alternative. EMS rushed the sufferer to Elmhurst Hospital Heart, the place he died from the gunshot wound 31 days later.
Ford was initially arrested on Aug. 25, 2020, following one other shooting in which he was accused of firing a handgun close to fortieth Avenue and tenth Road at the northern finish of the Queensbridge Houses. Nobody was believed to have been injured in that shooting incident. Ford was re-arrested in August 2021, together with Aiken and 26 different reputed gang members indicted on conspiracy, homicide, weapons possession, and different expenses, for 20 acts of “gang warfare” crimes dedicated in and round Astoria and Long Island City, together with the fatal shooting of Rosa. Seven different folks have been shot in the course of the reign of terror, however they recovered from their accidents, in line with the DA’s workplace.
“The entire city grieved the senseless death of beloved social studies teacher George Rosa, who was simply walking his dog,” Katz mentioned. “It’s precisely to prevent tragedies such as this that we fight so hard to get illegal guns and the criminals who use them off our streets. We will not surrender our streets to reckless violence and illegal guns.”
Justice Holder sentenced Ford to 19 years in jail to be adopted by 5 years of post-release supervision.