Brooklyn gang member sentenced to 25 years to life in prison for deadly shooting

July 26, 2023 Rob Abruzzese

District Attorney Eric Gonzalez. Photo: Mary Altaffer/AP.

Share this:

A reputed Brooklyn gang member was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison for the fatal shooting of a man outside a East New York bodega, with stray bullets that hit a nearby school bus and an MTA bus. Somehow, bus passengers managed to escape injury.

The defendant, 34-year-old Jamel Dossie of Brownsville, was sentenced Wednesday by Kings County Supreme Court Justice Phyllis Chu, following a jury trial on June 29. Dossie was convicted of second-degree murder and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon.

“This defendant robbed a two-year-old girl of her father, devastated a family, and endangered the lives of countless others with stray bullets hitting two crowded buses,” District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said. “Today’s sentence holds him accountable for this despicable crime, and I hope it offers some comfort to the victim’s loved ones.”

The trial revealed that on the morning of Nov. 19, 2019, Dossie, a member of the Blood Stone Villains gang, gunned down 32-year-old Francisco Bonilla outside an East New York bodega on Pennsylvania Avenue. The incident occurred during peak commuting hours, with errant bullets striking a school bus full of young children and an MTA bus. No other injuries were reported.

The prosecution presented surveillance footage that showed Dossie, sporting a red baseball cap, in pursuit of Bonilla moments before the murder. He was later seen returning to a nearby building, where he stashed a gun in a mailbox and appeared to revel in his act, dancing and laughing with two women in the lobby.

Further video evidence captured Dossie entering a fourth-floor apartment wearing the same red hat, which he left behind when he departed the unit. Forensic analysis later confirmed the presence of Dossie’s DNA on the hat.