In the late hours of August 28, 2015, 27-year-old Chrispine Phillips was shot and killed inside the Buda Hookah Lounge on Flatbush Avenue in the Prospect-Lefferts Gardens neighborhood of Brooklyn. Surveillance video showed a gunman, later identified as Larry Pagett, open fire on Phillips while patrons were present. Phillips, also known as Droppa, was struck multiple times while trying to flee and received a final, fatal shot to the back of the head. A bystander was hit by a stray bullet but survived.

Prosecutors said Pagett believed Phillips was a member of a rival gang and carried out the attack to avenge the earlier death of a gang member in Trinidad and to raise his standing within the Eight Trey Crips. Pagett was arrested and charged; his case proceeded to trial, ending with a conviction and a life sentence.