By Ivan Pereira
A Rosedale man was convicted last week of randomly killing a teen in Springfield Park more than three years ago, the Queens district attorney said.
Rashawn Wingfield, 22, of 147th Ave., faces 25 years to life in prison for second-degree murder and criminal possession of a weapon charges when he is sentenced next month, DA Richard Brown said. Wingfield fired three shots into the back of 19-year-old Antonine Alvares on May 26, 2007, while he was at the park, according to the DA.
“This murder is another example of lives cut short by senseless violence. Both the victim and the defendant’s young lives are now ruined — one is gone forever and the other will spend, quite possibly, the rest of his life behind bars,” he said in a statement.
Alvares was walking with his friends at the park when Wingfield, who at the time was also 19, ran past him, turned and fired two shots into Alvares’ back, Brown said. When the victim was on the ground, Wingfield shot him once more in the back and fled, leaving Alavares to die at the scene, according to the DA.
The two were involved in a verbal argument before the shooting took place, the DA’s office said.
Wingfield was arrested the next day and charged with the killing. He was convicted after a two-week trial with the jury reaching its verdict within three hours of deliberation, Brown said.
Queens Supreme Court Justice Gregory Lasak scheduled a sentencing date for Nov. 17.
Reach reporter Ivan Pereira by e-mail at ipereira@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4546.
