In the winter of 2014, the city of Utica, New York, marked its first homicide of the year with the death of 23-year-old Andre Lamar Oliver-Kenney. On the night of January 18, Oliver-Kenney was fatally shot outside of Two J's Bar. The young man, born on July 6, 1990, in Brooklyn, New York, was a father to two sons, Andre Jr. and Adrian. He was educated in Utica's public schools and was part of a large family, including a twin brother.
For two years, the case remained a focal point for law
enforcement as they worked to bring those responsible to justice. The breakthrough came in February 2016, when the Utica Police Department announced the arrests of two men in connection with Oliver-Kenney's murder. The U.S. Marshal's Regional Fugitive Task Force apprehended one of the suspects at a relative's home in the Bronx following an indictment by an Oneida County Grand Jury.
The two men charged were 32-year-old Jonathan Brown and 29-year-old Kent Burgess. At the time of his arrest, Burgess was already incarcerated at Attica Prison on an unrelated drug charge. Brown faced charges of Murder in the Second Degree and Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree. Burgess was charged with Criminal Possession of a Weapon. The arrests were the culmination of years of investigative work and cooperation from the public.
