On a summer Sunday afternoon in East New York, Brooklyn, a young man's life was tragically cut short in a senseless act of violence. Justin Richey, a 16-year-old male, was on Blake Avenue between Euclid Avenue and Pine Street on July 15, 2018, when he was confronted by three individuals. The group wrongly accused the teenager of being a member of a rival gang.
This false accusation led to a physical assault on the young man, who had just celebrated his birthday the day before.
The altercation quickly escalated to a fatal encounter. One of the assailants, Ralief Bradford, brandished a gun and shot Justin three times in the torso. After being shot, Justin attempted to flee but collapsed. He was rushed to Brookdale Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Friends and family remembered him as a hardworking young man who did odd jobs to help support his mother and siblings and had no criminal history.
In the days following the shooting, the New York Police Department investigated the homicide. On July 18, 2018, they arrested Ralief Bradford, a man from East New York. The other two individuals involved in the attack were not immediately apprehended. Bradford was subsequently charged with second-degree murder and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon.
After a jury trial, Ralief Bradford was convicted of the charges against him on March 28, 2024. Nearly six years after the fatal shooting, on May 28, 2024, Bradford was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison for the murder of Justin Richey. The sentencing brought a measure of closure to a case that highlighted the devastating impact of baseless accusations and street violence. The two other individuals who were with Bradford at the time of the murder have not been caught.
