On a Tuesday night in Queens, New York, 19-year-old Omaree Morrison was walking along 135th Avenue in South Richmond Hill when his life was abruptly ended. It was around 9:30 p.m. on January 16, 2018, when a Mercedes Benz stopped on 105th Street. A man emerged from the vehicle, approached Morrison, and fired several shots, striking him multiple times in the torso and neck.
Emergency medical services arrived at the scene and rushed the young man to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, but his injuries were too severe, and he was pronounced dead. The shooting occurred just over a mile from Morrison's home.
The investigation into the male's murder led police to two Queens men, Richard Davenport and Neville Brown. Security camera footage from that January night was crucial in identifying the suspects. The video showed Davenport getting out of the Mercedes Benz, approaching Omaree Morrison, and fatally shooting him. Further investigation, including ballistics tests, connected the shell casings from Morrison's murder to another fatal shooting that had occurred a month earlier, linking the same suspects to a wider string of violence.
In November 2022, Richard Davenport, then 46, and Neville Brown, then 42, pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree manslaughter for the deaths of Omaree Morrison and another man. Davenport also pleaded guilty to manslaughter in two other fatal shootings that took place between 2015 and 2018. In January 2023, Davenport was sentenced to a total of 29 years in prison, while Brown received a sentence of 15 years for his role in the killings. The resolution of the case brought an end to a violent crime spree and secured lengthy prison terms for the two men responsible for the death of Omaree Morrison and others.
