HIGH RANKING ‘BLOODS’ GANG MEMBER CONVICTED OF ASSAULT IN DEADLY BEATING THAT CLAIMED THE LIFE OF A FELLOW INMATE ON RIKERS ISLAND

Bronx District Attorney Robert T. Johnson announced today that a ‘Bloods’ gang member with a long record of felony convictions has been found guilty of gang assault and other offenses stemming from the brutal beating of a fellow inmate on Rikers Island.

Amir Douglas, 33, was found guilty on one count of Gang Assault in the 1st degree and two counts of Assault in the 2nd degree in the fatal beating of Tyreece Abney, 21, on October 3, 2004. Douglas had also been charged with Manslaughter in the 1st degree, however, the jury found him not guilty.

Acting State Supreme Court Justice Seth Marvin set sentencing for Thursday, April 26, 2007 in Part T-27. Douglas, with two prior violent felony convictions, is facing a maximum sentence of up to 25 years to life imprisonment if he is sentenced as a mandatory persistent violent felony offender. Douglas was convicted of Attempted Assault in the 1st degree for slashing an inmate with a razor in 1993 and was found guilty of Attempted Robbery in the 2nd degree two years later in 1995.

The fatal beating at the center of this most recent conviction occurred in a corridor of a housing unit at the George Motchen Detention Center at the City Jail on Rikers Island, where the victim was awaiting transfer to a drug treatment program. The jury found that Douglas assaulted Abney in two separate incidents. In the first incident, Douglas and two other inmates struck, punched and kicked Abney to the floor after Correction Officers expressed concern that Abney was becoming a “discipline problem in the unit.” The second assault occurred a short while later as Abney was being moved to another housing area for his own protection. Abney was being escorted away when he tried to punch another inmate prompting Douglas and several others to retaliate. Douglas straddled Abbey’s chest and punched his face and head numerous times before smashing the victim’s head into the floor repeatedly. The Medical Examiner determined that Abbey’s death was caused by multiple blunt force trauma. At the time of the attack, Douglas was being held on Rikers Island on a Manhattan homicide charge for which he subsequently was acquitted.

Two other defendants pled guilty last year for their roles in the deadly assault. Christopher Morales was sentenced to a term of 3 to 9 years for Manslaughter in the 2nd degree. Adrian Santiago was sentenced to 4 years imprisonment for Assault in the 2nd degree.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys James Goward and Jacob Kaplan of the Rackets Bureau.