A Brooklyn man on Tuesday was sentenced to 19 years to life in prison following his guilty plea to second-degree murder for shooting a deli clerk in the head during a 2021 robbery in Flatbush.
The defendant, identified by Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez as Ricardo Senatus, 32, fled following the shooting and was subsequently apprehended in Newark, N.J.
According to the evidence, on December 14, 2021, at approximately 7:30pm, the defendant entered a deli located at 803 Flatbush Ave., wearing a mask and armed with a firearm. He went behind the counter and pointed the firearm at the store clerk, Fadhl Moosa, 20, and demanded money from the cash register.
A physical struggle ensued between the defendant and the clerk and ended with the defendant shooting the victim in the head. The defendant left the store, then realized he forgot to take the money. He returned to the store, stepped over the dying victim’s body, and retrieved the money from the cash register.
“This was a cold-blooded and senseless execution of a young man who was simply doing his job," Gonzalez said in a statement. "Fadhl Moosa’s life was cut short in an act of shocking violence that has devastated his family and shaken the community. Today’s sentence ensures that the defendant will be held accountable for this horrific crime, and I hope it brings some measure of justice and closure to Fadhl’s loved ones.”
