On a Thursday afternoon, February 19, 2015, a tragic case of mistaken identity unfolded in the courtyard of the Walt Whitman Houses in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, leading to the death of 20-year-old Kevin Colon. As Colon was leaving the apartment he shared with his mother at approximately 1:50 p.m., he was confronted by a man who harbored a misguided thirst for revenge. The man, later identified as Leonaldo Parrado, fired four to five shots at Colon, striking him in the stomach.
The young man was rushed to Brooklyn Hospital, but the multiple gunshot wounds proved fatal, and he was pronounced dead.
The senseless act of violence stemmed from a robbery that had occurred the previous year. In 2014, Parrado was the victim of a robbery by a group of men wearing clown masks. In a fateful error, Parrado mistakenly identified Kevin Colon as one of the individuals involved in that prior incident. Seeking retaliation for a crime Colon did not commit, Parrado ambushed him as he exited his building. Surveillance footage captured Parrado fleeing the scene immediately after the shooting, a key piece of evidence in the ensuing investigation.
Following a lengthy investigation by the police, Leonaldo Parrado, a resident of Brownsville, was identified as the primary suspect. On September 19, 2015, authorities arrested the then 21-year-old near his home. Parrado was subsequently charged with second-degree murder and criminal possession of a weapon. In April 2018, a jury found him guilty of first-degree manslaughter and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon. The following month, a judge sentenced Leonaldo Parrado to 23 years in prison for senselessly ending the life of an innocent man.
