In the early morning hours of August 18, 2019, the courtyard of the Academy Gardens complex on Commonwealth Avenue in the Bronx was the scene of a fatal shooting. Nestor Ventura, a 26-year-old male resident of the Bronx, was spending time with a friend in the courtyard of the housing complex when an argument broke out with another man. The dispute escalated, and the man pulled out a gun, shooting Ventura multiple times in the chest. Police responded to a 911 call around 3:52 a.m.
and found Ventura with multiple gunshot wounds. He was transported to Jacobi Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The New York City Police Department immediately began an investigation into the homicide. Surveillance video from the complex captured images of a man walking in and out of the property, whom police identified as a person of interest. Investigators were looking into how the suspect gained access to the complex, as a security guard was required to grant entry to guests. A reward of $2,500 was offered for information that would lead to an arrest.
In the course of their investigation, police identified 36-year-old Dane Richardson as the suspect in the murder of Nestor Ventura. Richardson, also a resident of the Bronx, was apprehended by police on December 4, 2019, at a motel on the New England Thruway. At the time of his arrest, he was found to be in possession of crack cocaine.
Following his arrest, Dane Richardson was charged with the murder of Nestor Ventura. The investigation also connected him to another fatal shooting that occurred on November 17, 2019, where he shot and killed 19-year-old Stephon Brown and wounded Brown's 21-year-old brother, Rory. Richardson was ultimately convicted of second-degree murder, first-degree manslaughter, and attempted murder in the second-degree for the string of violent acts. On June 22, 2023, a Bronx Supreme Court Justice sentenced him to 83 years to life in prison for the murders of Nestor Ventura and Stephon Brown, as well as the wounding of Rory Brown.
