Johnny Gaston

On the night of December 15, 2022, Johnny Gaston and his younger brother went to Osborne Place in the University Heights neighborhood of the Bronx, where they intended to buy marijuana. Johnny, a 32-year-old male from the Foxhurst section, and his 27-year-old brother were instead met by a group of five men who pulled up in a Dodge Durango. The men confronted the brothers in an attempt to rob them, and the encounter quickly turned violent.

At approximately 10:02 p.m., shots were fired. Both brothers tried to flee around a corner, but they had been hit. Officers from the 46th Precinct responded to a 911 call and found Johnny Gaston on the ground in front of 189 Burnside Avenue with a gunshot wound to his head. His brother was nearby, shot in the groin. Medics rushed both men to St. Barnabas Hospital, where Johnny was pronounced dead. His brother survived his injuries and was listed in stable condition. “My son was gunned down in cold blood ending his life at just the age of 32,” his father, Jackie Gaston, later wrote.

The NYPD began a homicide investigation, releasing surveillance images of five suspects and asking for the public’s help. The first arrest came on January 3, 2023, when police took 19-year-old Gibran Guerrero into custody. He was charged with murder, attempted murder, robbery, and criminal possession of a weapon. Several months later, on May 8, police announced the arrest of a second suspect, 26-year-old Yorvin Gomez, who faced a similar slate of charges.

The prosecution of the case was soon elevated from state to federal court. In August, Guerrero and Gomez were taken into federal custody and indicted on new charges, including murder in aid of racketeering. Prosecutors alleged the men were members of the Trinitarios gang who had lured the two brothers to the location with the specific intent of robbing them. The case was assigned to U.S. District Judge Lorna G. Schofield in the Southern District of New York.

After some initial delays in late 2023 involving a potential plea and a change of lawyers for one defendant, the case moved forward. Ultimately, one of the men charged in the attack was convicted for his role in the fatal robbery. Judge Schofield sentenced him to 27 years in federal prison. As of that conviction, the cases against the co-defendants were still pending.