In the early morning hours of October 4, 2015, a dispute that began in an after-hours club in Staten Island spilled out into the street and ended in the tragic deaths of two brothers. Justin Ford, a 28-year-old male, and his brother Terrell Ford, 27, were fatally shot outside a gas station at the intersection of Targee Street and Vanderbilt Avenue. The incident unfolded around 2:56 a.m., just blocks from their home.
The conflict reportedly originated from a fight at a nearby club.
Terrell Ford had followed the altercation to the gas station in an attempt to de-escalate the situation. Justin, an aspiring rapper known as SL Blicky who had just finished a shift at a car service, saw his brother in the midst of the confrontation and rushed to his aid. It was then that a man named Wayne Thomas produced a 9mm handgun and opened fire on the brothers. Justin Ford was struck in the back and was transported to Staten Island University Hospital North, where he was pronounced dead. Terrell Ford was hit in the torso and died at Richmond University Medical Center.
Four days after the shooting, police arrested Wayne Thomas, who was 30 years old at the time and on parole for a prior manslaughter conviction. He was charged with murder and criminal possession of a weapon. Thomas's first trial in November 2016 ended in a mistrial after the jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict. However, a second trial in July 2017 resulted in a conviction. A jury found Wayne Thomas guilty of the murders of Justin and Terrell Ford. Following his conviction, Thomas faced a sentence of up to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
