Brooklyn man gets 25 years for killing someone at an anti-gun violence rally

January 9, 2019 By Rob Abruzzese, Legal Editor Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Raheem Dunaway was sentenced to 25 years to life yesterday for the murder of 30-year-old Richard Spencer. Photo courtesy of the Brooklyn DA's Office.

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A Brooklyn man who shot someone to death following an anti-gun violence rally in Gravesend was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison on Wednesday.

Raheem Dunaway, a 36-year-old Gravesend resident, was sentenced by Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Jill Konviser to 25 years to life after he was convicted of second-degree murder and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon during a jury trial.

“This was a completely brazen and senseless murder of an innocent man,” said Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez. “That it took place during an event meant to honor victims of gun violence and deter further fatalities is heartbreaking. In Brooklyn, we are committed to ending the cycle of gun violence that is destroying too many young lives and leaving families devastated.”

Daquan Spencer, 30, was celebrating his son’s birthday at Scarangella Park on Stillwell Avenue when he was killed on Aug. 21, 2016, according to prosecutors. The celebration that night followed a community event in the park to combat gun violence and memorialize the lives of six young men who had died.

Prosecutors said that Dunaway was picking arguments and confronting people without provocation and eventually approached the victim at approximately 1:30 a.m., firing on him 20 times without known reason. Seventeen of those shots hit Spencer in the head, neck, back, chest, stomach, legs and buttocks. Dunaway continued to shoot even as Spencer crawled away.

After the shooting, Dunaway got into a nearby vehicle and drove off, the DA’s Office said. He was arrested two and a half months later on Nov. 10, 2016. in Loris, South Carolina.

Following extradition to New York, Dunaway was identified as the shooter in a police lineup and from witness statements, according to the DA’s Office.