GRAND JURY INDICTS TWO BRONX YOUTHS ON MURDER CHARGES IN THE SHOOTING DEATH OF A MAN IN THE AFTERMATH OF A HALLOWEEN WEEKEND EGG THROWING INCIDENT

Bronx District Attorney Robert T. Johnson announced today that a grand jury has filed murder charges against two youths in the shooting death of motorist Joseph Padro during an altercation stemming from an egg tossing incident on Friday night, October 29, 2005.

The grand jury charged Jeffery Ivey, 15, and Erik Fuller, 17, with Murder in the 2nd degree in the death of Joseph Padro. The two defendants were also charged with Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the 2nd degree.

Ivey and Fuller were charged under two different legal theories with “acting in concert” in causing Padro’s death. Each was charged with the intentional murder of the victim, as well as with causing his death “in a manner evincing a depraved indifference to human life.” If convicted of murder, Fuller would be facing a maximum sentence of 25 years to life imprisonment. Because co-defendant Ivey is only 15, fifteen years to life imprisonment is, by law, the maximum sentence that he would be facing if he is found guilty of murder.

Padro was killed when he confronted the defendants and demanded that they clean his van which was pelted with eggs as he drove past a building at 2595 Third Avenue in the Morrisania section of the Bronx.

Ivey and Fuller are being held without bail and are to be arraigned on the indictment on Monday, November 28, 2005 in Part A.

Assistant District Attorney David Greenfield is prosecuting the case.