A long-running dispute over control of the drug trade in Aqueduct Park ended in the death of 62-year-old Robert Brown, Sr. Tensions had been rising for months as Brown sold crack cocaine in larger quantities than other local dealers, and he received threats from members of a group involved in a drug distribution conspiracy. On the afternoon of December 5, 2021, in broad daylight and with witnesses present, Brown was assaulted in the park. During the attack, Ricardo Ferguson, who used the alias Maybach, and a co-conspirator attempted to rob him; Ferguson produced a firearm and shot Brown in the head. Brown was taken to St. Barnabas Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

The attack was linked by investigators to the local drug dispute and the larger conspiracy operating in the neighborhood. An arrest has been made in connection with the killing. If anyone witnessed the assault in Aqueduct Park or has information about the drug activity that preceded it, please share what is known.