By Tien-Shun Lee
A Long Island man who was charged with shooting a St. John’s University football star in 2001 was arraigned last week on new attempted murder charges after allegedly shooting at a man outside his girlfriend’s house in St. Albans on March 20.
Christopher Prince, 23, of Elmont, L.I., fired a shot at Orville Mongol during an argument in front of his girlfriend’s home at 178-32 Eveleth Rd. at around 1:50 a.m., according to the criminal complaint. Mongol had to duck in order to avoid being hit by the shot and was further alarmed by a second shot that Prince fired into the air, the complaint said.
Prince faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted of the March 20 crime, a spokeswoman for District Attorney Richard Brown said.
Attempts to reach Prince’s attorney, Franklin Gould, for comment were unsuccessful.
Prince is awaiting a second trial after a jury was unable to reach a verdict in June 2002 on whether or not he is guilty of attempted murder during a shooting that took place on the St. John’s campus on March 11, 2001.
According to trial testimony and police reports, the March 2001 incident began when Prince and several of his friends got into a dispute with another group of people inside of Traditions, a bar on Hillside Avenue in Jamaica. Corey Mitchell, a St. John’s University linebacker who was taking a semester off during his senior year and working as a bouncer at the bar, acted as a peacemaker between the two groups, diffusing the confrontation.
Several hours later, at around 3 a.m., Prince encountered Mitchell, then 22, and his friends in front of a St. John’s dormitory near the school’s Gate 1 on Utopia Parkway, DA officials said. After taunting Mitchell for several minutes, Prince suddenly pulled out a 9mm pistol and fired numerous times, according to the DA.
One bullet struck Mitchell once in the back as he ran for his life, leaving him permanently paralyzed from the waist down, said DA officials. Another bullet ripped through the pants of Tyson Holley-Hines, then 24, Mitchell’s teammate, but did not wound him. A third bullet hit Rashan Fray, Holley-Hines’ cousin, then 17, in the knee, seriously wounding him.
If convicted, Prince faces up to 25 years in prison for each of the three counts of attempted murder in the March 2001 incident.
In addition, Prince has been charged with perjury for allegedly convincing a friend, Stanley Heriveaux, 19, to lie on his behalf. According to the district attorney, Heriveaux testified falsely under oath in June 2002 that he did not know Prince and did not drive him to and from the scene of the shooting on March 11, 2001.
Prince and Heriveaux both face up to seven years in prison if convicted of perjury.
Reach reporter Tien-Shun Lee by e-mail at Timesledger@aol.com, or call 718-229-0300, ext. 155.
