Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez announced that a Brooklyn man was sentenced Friday to 28 years to life in prison for a murder and shooting at the Ingersoll Houses in Fort Greene.
The District Attorney identified the defendant as Earl Morgan, 54, of Fort Greene, Brooklyn, according to a news release.
The defendant was convicted of second-degree murder and first-degree assault on April 26, 2024, following a jury trial.
According to the evidence, on May 30, 2020, just after 2:00am, in the vicinity of 24 Monument Walk, Jo’heem Hamilton, 25, and another man, age 36, were walking to a store to get some food when they encountered the defendant hanging out in and around the lobby. As the victims walked by, according to the evidence, the defendant approached them and engaged in a brief verbal altercation.
When the victims walked away, the defendant left the area and retrieved a loaded firearm, according to the evidence, and then returned and waited in a stairwell near the entrance of the lobby for the victims. When they returned, and their backs were turned, he fired multiple shots at point-blank range. He then put the gun in his waistband and walked away, according to the evidence.
Jo’heem Hamilton, who was father to an infant daughter, was shot in the back and died of his injuries. The second victim was also shot in the back and suffered serious injuries, according to the press release.
“This was a violent and inexplicable shooting of two strangers by this defendant who, after a minor verbal dispute, retrieved a gun and lay in wait for his victims. I hope that today’s sentence brings some closure to the friends and family of Jo’heem Hamilton, a young father, and to the surviving gunshot victim," Gonzalez said.
