2014 J’Ouvert celebration shooter gets 24 years in jail for murder of Crown Heights resident
A 28-year-old man has been sentenced to 24 years in prison for fatally shooting a father-of-four during the J’Ouvert celebration that was held in advance of the 2014 West Indian Day Parade in Crown Heights.
According to Acting District Attorney Eric Gonzalez, the defendant – Crown Heights resident Derek Goodings – has been dealt the sentence, as well as five years’ post-release supervision, after pleading guilty last month to first-degree manslaughter.
According to trial testimony, at approximately 3:30 a.m. on September 1, 2014, Goodings fired a loaded weapon into a crowd of people during the J’Ouvert celebration that typically precedes the annual West Indian Day Parade, striking 55-year-old Michael Sampson in the chest, killing him, and injuring another bystander.