BRONX JURY CONVICTS AN ADMITTED BLOODS GANG MEMBER ON MANSLAUGHTER AND ASSAULT CHARGES

Bronx District Attorney Robert T. Johnson announced today that a 24 year-old Bronx man has been convicted in connection with the January 2000 fatal shooting of a 24 year-old Bronx man and the wounding of a 31 year-old Bronx man, following a dispute.

Following three hours of deliberation, a jury found Jaysen Ventura, an admitted Bloods gang member, of 1480 Washington Avenue, guilty of 1 count of Manslaughter in the 1st degree in the death of Ivan Torres, and Assault in the 1st degree in the shooting of Derrick Brooks.

Ventura, a predicate felon, is facing a maximum term of up to 50 years imprisonment when he appears before State Supreme Court Justice David Stadtmauer on Wednesday, November 6, 2002 in Part T19 for sentencing.

The incident occurred during the evening of January 18, 2000 following an argument between Ventura and Brooks. The defendant went home and retrieved a 9mm semi-automatic handgun and went back to confront Brooks. Ventura pointed the gun at Brooks and pulled the trigger but the gun did not fire. The defendant admitted that he had to remove the safety before pointing the gun and firing at the two victims as they ran toward a stairwell. Torres was fatally wounded with 4 shots hitting him in the back. Brooks suffers permanent injuries from three shots striking him in the right leg and hip.

Ventura fled, evading the police for eleven days. Upon his arrest on January 29, 2000, Ventura, admitted that he shot the two victims but claimed self defense. The gun was recovered three months later, after ballistics tests successfully tracked the gun to this crime.

Assistant District Attorneys Samuel Ramer and Dana Roth of the Major Case / Housing Task Force are prosecuting this case.