Audrey Strauss, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced today that DAVID HARDY, a/k/a “Mooka,” was sentenced to 372 months in prison for the 2016 murder of Shamoya McKenzie and his participation in a 2012 shooting. In July 2021, codefendant MARQUIS COLLIER was sentenced to 324 months in prison for his participation in the McKenzie murder and the affairs of the Goonies gang. COLLIER and HARDY previously pled guilty before U.S. District Judge Nelson S. Román, who imposed COLLIER’s and HARDY’s sentences.
U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss said: “Nothing can undo the senseless killing of Shamoya McKenzie, an innocent young woman, or the trauma experienced by her mother, who witnessed it. Justice requires that those responsible be held accountable, as Marquis Collier and now David Hardy have been. Rightly, both will spend decades in federal prison for their crimes.”
According to allegations in the Indictment and other documents filed in federal court, as well as statements made in public court proceedings:
Between 2007 and 2017, in the Southern District of New York and elsewhere, HARDY, COLLIER, JERMAINE HUGHLEY, and SINCERE SAVOY were members of a racketeering enterprise known as the “Goonies.” In order to fund the enterprise, protect and expand its interests, and promote its standing, members and associates of the Goonies committed, conspired, attempted, and threatened to commit acts of violence, including murder, attempted murder and robbery; they conspired to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute narcotics; and they obtained, possessed, and used firearms, including by brandishing and firing them.
The Goonies have been engaged in a long-standing and violent feud with several rival Mount Vernon street gangs, including, among others, the “Boss Playa Family,” the “Get Money Gangstas,” the “Gunnas,” and the “Much Better Gang,” among others. On December 31, 2016, HARDY, COLLIER, HUGHLEY, and SAVOY attempted to murder a rival gang member in broad daylight by firing multiple shots at him in the vicinity of Tecumseh Avenue and Third Street in Mount Vernon, New York. HARDY fired the shots, with COLLIER at his side. The rival gang member suffered gunshot wounds but survived. One of the bullets, however, missed the intended target and struck the head of 13-year-old Shamoya McKenzie, who was in the front passenger seat of a passing car, which was being driven by her mother. Shamoya McKenzie died as a result.
HARDY, 26, pled guilty to one count of using a firearm in connection with the murder of Shamoya McKenzie in aid of racketeering and one count of using a firearm in connection with an assault with a dangerous weapon in aid of racketeering for committing a separate shooting in 2012 in furtherance of the Goonies. In addition to the prison term, Hardy was also sentenced to five years of supervised release.
COLLIER, 29, pled guilty to one count of racketeering conspiracy and one count of discharging a firearm in connection with the murder of Shamoya McKenzie in aid of racketeering. In addition to the prison term, Collier was also sentenced to five years of supervised release.
HUGHLEY and SAVOY are awaiting sentencing.
HUGHLEY, 28, pled guilty to one count of racketeering conspiracy and one count of discharging a firearm in connection with the murder of Shamoya McKenzie in aid of racketeering. Together, the crimes carry a maximum penalty of life in prison, and a mandatory minimum sentence of ten years in prison.
SAVOY, 24, pled guilty to one count of using a firearm in connection with the murder of Shamoya McKenzie in aid of racketeering, which carries a maximum penalty of life in prison, and a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison.
Ms. Strauss thanked the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office for their extraordinary cooperation and assistance with this case, and praised the outstanding investigative work of the Mount Vernon Police Department and the FBI’s Westchester County Safe Streets Task Force, which comprises agents and detectives from the FBI, Yonkers Police Department, Westchester County District Attorney’s Office, Westchester County Police Department, Peekskill Police Department, Mount Vernon Police Department, New York City Police Department, and U.S. Probation.
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