Brooklyn man gets 40 years to life in prison for 2020 fatal shooting at Wyandanch house party
Police said Birthwright dropped a large roll of cash on the ground moments before the shooting as he and a friend were leaving the party around 2 a.m.
With tears pouring down her face at the sentencing of her son's killer, LaVerne Thomas called the fatal shooting nearly five years ago a tragic loss of life.
"He had a bright future ahead of him," she said outside of court. "We didn't know...what he could have accomplished. I just want people to stop the senseless killings."
Prosecutors said Basheer Vinson, 30, of Brooklyn, was at a house party on Patton Avenue in Wyandanch on Aug. 2, 2020 when he fatally shot Mark Birthwright Jr., 26.
Police said Birthwright dropped a large roll of cash on the ground moments before the shooting as he and a friend were leaving the party around 2 a.m.
Investigators said Birthwright picked the cash up and continued to walk out of the party as Vinson and a second unknown individual approached Birthwright with guns drawn and demanded the money.
Birthwright and Vinson struggled before Vinson fired a single shot into his chest. Birthwright's friend ran back to help him before Vinson shot him in the side.
Birthwright died at the scene while the second victim, a 30-year-old man from Bellport, was taken to Good Samaritan Hospital, where he was treated for non-life-threatening injuries and survived.
During the struggle, police said Vinson's hat fell off his head and landed on the ground. Investigators matched DNA from that hat to partial DNA found on one of the spent 9 mm cartridge casings.
He was arrested on Oct. 4, 2022, nearly two years later.
On Sept. 24, 2024, a jury convicted Vinson on second-degree murder, attempted assault, attempted robbery, assault and criminal possession of a weapon charges.
Today, Supreme Court Judge Timothy Mazzei sentenced Vinson to 25 years to life on the murder charge and 15 years on the attempted assault charge to run consecutively for a total sentence of 40 years to life.
Vinson spoke in court and denied to the judge that he was the man who pulled the trigger and called the case a false narrative against him.
