On an ordinary Thursday evening in late August of 2012, a trip to the grocery store turned into a tragedy for 28-year-old Fatima Gordon and her family in the Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn. As they walked along Clarkson Avenue after 9 p.m., shots suddenly rang out. In the ensuing chaos, Fatima was struck in the back. Her mother, Cynthia Thomas, witnessed the horrific moment her daughter fell to the ground.
Gordon was rushed to Kings County Hospital, where she succumbed to her injuries.
At the time of her death, Gordon was just days away from her 29th birthday. She was a dedicated mother to her four-year-old son, who was with her at the time of the shooting, along with her mother and seven-year-old brother. The gunfire also wounded three other people, including a 13-year-old family friend. The police quickly began an investigation, circulating a flyer of a suspect who had reportedly ridden a bicycle, opened fire on a group of people, and fled. Investigators believed Gordon was not the intended target of the shooting.
The investigation soon focused on 21-year-old Christopher Johnson of Bed-Stuy. He turned himself in to the Brooklyn District Attorney's office and was charged with murder and attempted murder. Witnesses reportedly identified him in a lineup. In 2014, Johnson's trial commenced, and he was ultimately found guilty of manslaughter. He was expected to be sentenced in October of that year.
However, the legal proceedings did not end there. Johnson appealed his conviction, and in a turn of events, the conviction was overturned. This led to a second trial, where a jury did not convict him of the crime. The outcome of the second trial was a source of great pain for Gordon's family, who felt let down by the justice system after their long fight for a sense of closure.
