Jerald Bethea was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment for firing the stray bullet that killed a NYCHA worker at the Astoria Houses in April 2020. Via Google Maps
Feb. 26, 2025 By Bill Parry
An Astoria gunman was sentenced Tuesday in Queens Supreme Court to 20 years in prison for firing the stray bullet that killed an innocent bystander from Westchester who was working at the Astoria Houses in the spring of 2020.
Jerald Bethea, 24, of 27th Avenue, pleaded guilty last month to first-degree manslaughter for killing 25-year-old U.S. Navy veteran Darrian Ramdial, a NYCHA groundskeeper from Mount Vernon, NY, who was struck down by the bullet that was intended for someone else.
According to the charges, at around 3 p.m. on April 9, 2020, Ramdial was working near 3-20 27th Ave. At the same time, Bethea was involved in a dispute with a rival and three other men in the lobby of 3-20 27th Ave. and followed after the men as they left the building and pulled out an illegal handgun. He pointed and fired nine shots at one of the men. None of the bullets hit their intended target and instead struck Ramdial in his torso.
EMS responded to the crime scene and rushed the victim to Elmhurst Hospital, where he succumbed to his gunshot wound six days later and was pronounced dead.
Bethea fled the crime scene and was apprehended several months later by members of the NYPD’s Felony Warrant Squad in October 2020.
“In broad daylight — in a neighborhood full of children and families — this defendant fired nine shots,” Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said. “He was trying to shoot someone he had a dispute with. He missed the intended target and instead struck and killed Darrian Ramdial on Mount Vernon. This was senseless gun violence that took the life of a hard-working Navy Veteran.”
Queens Supreme Court Justice Michael Aloise sentenced Bethea to 20 years in prison, to be followed by five years post-release supervision.
