Three Bronx Men Charged With 2014 Murder

  Geoffrey S. Berman, United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and James P. O’Neill, Commissioner of the New York City Police Department (“NYPD”), announced a superseding indictment charging THERYN JONES, a/k/a “Ty,” a/k/a “Old Man Ty,” a/k/a “Tyballa,” 42, GYANCARLOS ESPINAL, a/k/a “Fatboy,” a/k/a “Slime,” 25, and ARIUS HOPKINS, a/k/a “Scrappy,” a/k/a “Scrap,” 25, with the January 2, 2014, murder of Shaquille Malcolm, 20.  JONES was arraigned on the superseding indictment yesterday.  ESPINAL and HOPKINS were previously arraigned on the charges.  The case is assigned to United States District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan. 

U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said:  “As alleged in the superseding indictment, the defendants are responsible for the murder of 20-year-old Shaquille Malcolm.  Now, thanks to the outstanding work of our partners at the NYPD, the defendants have been charged with this terrible crime.”

NYPD Commissioner James P. O’Neill said:  “The ability of investigators to bring about justice for Shaquille Malcolm and closure to his family is paramount.  The identification and arrest of the suspects in this case was a team effort that is the result of the cooperation that exists between the NYPD and our law-enforcement partners.  I thank and commend the NYPD investigators and the prosecutors for the Southern District of New York for their work in this investigation.”

According to the Superseding Indictment[1]: 

In 2013 and 2014, JONES, ESPINAL, and HOPKINS were involved in the distribution of crack cocaine and heroin in the Allerton section of the Bronx.  Because Malcolm and others were encroaching on JONES’s drug territory, and because Malcolm had previously assaulted ESPINAL, JONES and ESPINAL paid HOPKINS and another person (“CC-1”) to murder Malcolm.  On January 2, 2014, HOPKINS and CC-1 shot Shaquille Malcolm multiple times in the stairwell of an apartment building located at 2818 Bronx Park East in the Bronx, New York.  Malcolm died at the scene.

The Superseding Indictment charges the defendants in three counts: using a firearm to commit murder in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime and aiding and abetting the same (Count One); murder while engaged in a conspiracy to distribute 280 grams and more of crack cocaine and aiding and abetting the same (Count Two); and conspiring to commit murder for hire (Count Three).  All three defendants face a maximum sentence of life in prison or death.  The statutory maximum penalties are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant would be determined by the judge.

Mr. Berman praised the outstanding investigative work of the NYPD.

 The charges contained in the Indictment are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

[1] As the introductory phrase signifies, the entirety of the text of the Indictment and the descriptions of the Indictment constitute only allegations, and every fact described should be treated as an allegation.