Bronx Man Charged With 2011 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 the unsealing of an Indictment charging RANDY MARTINEZ, a/k/a “Rampage,” with the October 17, 2011, murder of Davon Jackson.  MARTINEZ was presented today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Stewart D. Aaron.  This case is assigned to U.S. District Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald.   

U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said: “As alleged in the Indictment, Randy Martinez exchanged gunfire with members of a rival gang, during which 16-year-old Davon Jackson was shot in the head and killed.  On the eight-year anniversary of Jackson’s death, the defendant now faces prosecution for this terrible crime, thanks to the persistence of our partners at the NYPD.”

NYPD Commissioner James P. O’Neill stated:  “Today’s indictment comes eight years to the day after a 16-year-old was struck by gunfire and killed in the Bronx.  The NYPD will never tolerate gangs and the violence that they are too often responsible for.  I thank the detectives and our law enforcement partners for their tireless work in this case.”

According to the allegations in the Indictment unsealed in Manhattan federal court[1]: 

MARTINEZ was a member of the Young Gunnaz, a violent gang operating in the Bronx, New York, that engaged in narcotics trafficking and acts of violence, including murder and attempted murder.  On October 17, 2011, MARTINEZ exchanged gunfire with members of a rival gang in the vicinity of 146th Street and Third Avenue in the Bronx, New York, during which Davon Jackson, 16, was shot in the head and killed. 

Martinez, 28, of the Bronx, New York, is charged with one count of murder in aid of racketeering, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison or death, and a mandatory minimum sentence of life in prison, and one count of using a firearm to commit murder in furtherance of a crime of violence and aiding and abetting the same, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison or death, and a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison.  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 defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

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