BRONX MAN CONVICTED OF MURDER AND ATTEMPTED MURDER IN A PLAYGROUND SHOOTING SPREE THAT KILLED A 10-YEAR OLD GIRL AND SERIOUSLY WOUNDED A 19- YEAR-OLD YOUTH

Bronx District Attorney Robert T. Johnson announced today that a 22-year-old man has been convicted of murder and attempted murder in a shooting spree in a playground that resulted in the death of a 10-year-old girl and the wounding of a 19-year-old youth.

Rene Bonilla, of 526 East 138th Street, the Bronx, was found guilty of one count of Murder in the 2nd degree in the death of Naisha Pearson and one count of Attempted Murder in the 2nd degree in the wounding of Leonardo D’Eaza on Labor Day, September 5, 2005. The jury reached the verdict Friday evening after two days of deliberations.

Sentencing has been set for Thursday, June 14, 2007 in State Supreme Court, Part 14 before Justice Dominick Massaro. Bonilla is facing a maximum sentence of up to 25 years to life imprisonment for the murder and up to 25 years imprisonment for the attempted murder. If Bonilla is sentenced to consecutive terms, he would not be eligible for parole until he had served a minimum of 50 years in prison.

The crimes occurred at a holiday block party in a crowded playground at Brook Avenue and East 139th Street. Bonilla approached D’Eaza and started shooting. Naisha Pearson was struck once in the chest by a stray bullet and fell to the ground. Bonilla walked around the mortally wounded girl and shot D’Eaza five times in the back, chest, stomach and arm. A crowd chased Bonilla into a nearby building where he ran up the stairwell to the roof. Police officers caught Bonilla as he attempted to escape by running across adjacent rooftops. The deadly shooting was the result of an earlier confrontation between the two men. Bonilla had sought revenge because D’Eaza had beaten him in front of his girlfriend because Bonilla, on a prior occasion, had robbed D’Eaza’s uncle.

Chief Trial Counsel Assistant District Attorney Daniel McCarthy and Assistant District Attorney Tracy Siligmueller are prosecuting the case.