In the spring of 2018, the life of 39-year-old Laquan Surles, a male resident of Brooklyn, New York, was brought to a violent and tragic end. On the evening of May 4th, at the intersection of Third Avenue and State Street in the Boerum Hill neighborhood, Surles was shot multiple times in his torso. He was rushed to Brooklyn Hospital, but the severity of his injuries proved fatal, and he was pronounced dead.
The investigation into the shooting quickly pointed to a suspect: 48-year-old Robert Flippen, also from Boerum Hill. The motive behind the deadly encounter was determined to be a dispute over a woman. Flippen was the ex-boyfriend of a woman Surles was currently dating, and this romantic entanglement allegedly led to the fatal confrontation. The day after the shooting, on May 5, 2018, Flippen was taken into custody by the New York Police Department.
Following his arrest, Robert Flippen was charged with murder and criminal possession of a weapon. During the course of the investigation, Flippen reportedly confessed to the crime. He also provided detectives with information about the location of the murder weapon, which he had dismantled and discarded in various places around the neighborhood.
The legal proceedings against Flippen moved forward, and he was indicted on a charge of murder in the second degree. On January 8, 2020, following a jury trial, Robert Flippen was convicted of murder in the second degree and criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree for the death of Laquan Surles. He was subsequently sentenced for his crimes. An appeal of the conviction was later affirmed by the Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Second Department, New York on March 12, 2025.
