NEWS FROM BRONX DA CLARK

   Darryl Brown Sentenced: to 18 years in prison for the fatal shooting of his daughter’s boyfriend during a fight inside a Wakefield apartment building.

   Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark announced that a Bronx man has been sentenced to 18 years in prison for the fatal shooting of his daughter’s boyfriend during a fight inside a Wakefield apartment building.

   District Attorney Clark said, “This defendant, who was an off-duty New York City Correction Officer at the time, responded to a young man’s punches with a gunshot. And after he shot the victim, he failed to provide any assistance whatsoever. He let him die.” District Attorney Clark said the defendant, Darryl Brown, 58, of 739 East 242nd Street, was sentenced to 18 years in prison with five years post-release supervision before Acting Bronx Supreme Court Justice Robert Neary. Brown was convicted by a jury on Sept. 30, 2016 of first-degree Manslaughter after a two-week trial. 

   According to trial testimony, on March 20, 2014, Brown, a Department of Correction Officer who was off-duty, noticed Vonde Cabbagestalk, 21, who was in a relationship with his daughter, speaking to another man in his building’s lobby. Brown demanded to know why Cabbagestalk was there and an argument escalated, with Cabbagestalk throwing some punches at Brown. 

   Brown was seen brandishing a semiautomatic gun, at which Cabbagestalk tried to swipe. Brown fired one shot, striking Cabbagestalk in the chest and killing him. According to testimony, a neighbor, who did not witness the incident, heard Brown’s daughter yell “No, daddy, no!” and called police after Brown and his daughter left Cabbagestalk bleeding on the floor and ran back to their apartment.

  Daquan Lanier Sentenced: to 20 years in prison for the fatal shooting of a man who was defending his mentally ill mother.

   Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark today announced that a Bronx man has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for fatally shooting a man who was defending his mentally ill mother as she was mocked outside her home. 

  District Attorney Clark said, “The victim used his fists to defend his mother from those harassing her. The defendant rushed to get a gun and in an instant, ended a young man’s life and destroyed his own.” 

  District Attorney Clark said that the defendant, Daquan Lanier, 21, of 225 East 149 Street, was sentenced today before Acting Bronx Supreme Court Justice Robert Neary to 20 years in prison and five years post-release supervision. Lanier pleaded guilty to first-degree Manslaughter on Oct. 11, 2016. 

  According to the investigation, on March 16, 2014, Lanier and two other men ridiculed Verbena Burgess, a woman with a history of mental illness who was singing and dancing outside her 562 Morris Avenue home. One man threw garbage and bottles at Burgess while the others cursed at her and demanded she stop singing. 

  The woman called her three sons, all of whom ran down from the apartment they shared and soon began to brawl with Lanier and his friends. Lanier and his friends quickly retreated but returned minutes later, with Lanier now carrying a gun.   

   Lanier fired one shot, striking Tony Andrew Burgess, 24, the eldest son of Verbena Burgess, in the back of the head as he fled, killing him instantly.