On a Sunday afternoon in Peekskill, New York, 35-year-old Ricky Brickhouse was fatally shot. The incident, which occurred around 4:15 p.m. on January 29, 2023, in the vicinity of Spring and John streets, was not a random act of violence, as police later determined that the victim was familiar with his assailant.
Responding to reports of gunshots, officers arrived to find Brickhouse on the ground with a gunshot wound to his back.
They immediately began life-saving measures and transported him to New York Presbyterian Hudson Valley Hospital in a police vehicle. He was later transferred to Westchester Medical Center, where he succumbed to his injuries three hours later.
An investigation was promptly launched, and authorities quickly identified a potential suspect and the vehicle they were driving, a white 2016 Acura. Information about the vehicle was disseminated to the Westchester County Department of Public Safety's Real Time Crime Center. Within minutes, the suspect vehicle was spotted traveling south on the Sprain Brook Parkway. A pursuit ensued, culminating in the vehicle being stopped in Greenburgh, where three male occupants were taken into custody without incident. A firearm, which was not legally registered, was recovered.
The three individuals arrested were 19-year-old Arnold J. Fernandez of Peekskill, 26-year-old Errick Lowe of Cortlandt Manor, and 20-year-old Omar Williams of Peekskill. Fernandez was charged with second-degree murder and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon. Lowe and Williams were both charged with second-degree criminal possession of a weapon.
In February 2023, a Westchester County Grand Jury indicted all three men. Fernandez was indicted for Murder in the Second Degree and Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree. Lowe and Williams were indicted for Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree. Prosecutors allege that Fernandez fired three shots, striking Brickhouse once. The. 40 caliber semi-automatic pistol recovered from the suspects is believed to be the murder weapon. Following their arraignment in Westchester County Court, Fernandez and Williams were remanded, while bail was set for Lowe.
