Mark Bajandas, known as Drama, was killed in the early morning hours of March 10, 2021, on Staten Island. He and his eventual killer had attended a memorial service earlier that evening for a fellow gang member murdered about a year earlier. Bajandas, a former member of the Gorilla Stone Mafia who had defected to a rival crew, was confronted afterward by John Pena, the leader of GSM. Pena fired multiple close-range shots, and Bajandas suffered at least 12 gunshot wounds to his upper torso and extremities.

The investigation identified Pena as the shooter. He was arrested in June 2021 on an indictment for being a felon in possession of ammunition linked to the killing; a later superseding indictment charged him with murder in-aid-of-racketeering, causing death through use of a firearm, and conspiracy to distribute drugs, based on his alleged leadership role in the Gorilla Stone Mafia. Writings recovered from Pena’s jail cell were introduced as evidence attributing responsibility for the killing. A jury found Pena guilty on all counts after a seven-day federal trial in Brooklyn.