Posted on: July 17, 2024 09:30 AM

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Jamaica resident sentenced to thirty six years in prison for fatal shooting

Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Ashik Zaman was sentenced today to 36 years in prison for killing a 39-year-old man in 2020 in a dispute over money and for fatally shooting another man in 2021 outside a liquor store in South Ozone Park. That victim died the next day, his 29th birthday.

District Attorney Katz said: “Two acts of senseless gun violence by this defendant cost two men their lives and left their families shattered. In our relentless effort to take illegal guns off our streets, we build strong cases against those who are accused of using these weapons. Today that resulted in a dangerous man being sent to prison.”

Zaman, 23, of 156th Street in Jamaica, pleaded guilty on June 20 to two counts of manslaughter in the first degree and one count of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree. He was sentenced today by Supreme Court Justice Ushir Pandit-Durant to 36 years in prison.

According to the charges:

• On January 21, 2020, at approximately 11:40 a.m, Zaman met with Kevin Williams in front of the 39-year-old man’s 118th Avenue home in Jamaica. Zaman confronted Williams about money and the two argued. Zaman pulled out a gun and fired multiple times at the victim, striking him in the chest, abdomen, arm and head. He died less than an hour later.
• On April 28, 2021, at approximately 11:40 p.m., Zaman was with a group of others shooting a music video on 134th Street in South Ozone Park. This group encountered another group of people near a liquor store and they began to argue. Video surveillance shows both groups parting ways without incident.
• A short time later, Zaman stood by a car outside the liquor store while Kajawn Howard, who was talking on his cell phone, began to walk in the defendant’s direction. Zaman removed a gun from his waistband and shot at Howard multiple times.
• Immediately following the shooting, Zaman jumped into the passenger seat of a black Infiniti and as the car sped off there was an exchange of gunfire between Zaman and a member of the opposing group. A 26-year-old man was struck and required surgery to remove his spleen and repair his colon.
• Howard, who was hit once in the chest, was taken to an area hospital where he died from the bullet wound the following day – on his 29th birthday.
• Zaman was arrested on May 20, 2021, after NYPD officers saw him riding a defaced Citi Bike on the sidewalk near Sutphin Boulevard between 109th Avenue and 109th Road in South Jamaica. They asked him to stop and he fled. When the officers caught him, they checked his name and saw that he was a suspect in the two homicides.
• On June 17, 2021, NYPD officers executed a search warrant on a residence where Zaman had resided with his family and recovered a loaded .40-caliber Ruger pistol from a garage. DNA testing connected the firearm to Zaman.

From Queens DA