Man sentenced 24 years for fatal shooting outside South Jamaica funeral

Joseph Gilbert Stevens, 34, shot Richard Carter four times outside a funeral in South Jamaica in April. A Queens court handed him a 24-year prison term.

Queens man gets 24 years for killing mourner outside South Jamaica church

A Queens Supreme Court judge sentenced a southeast Queens man to 24 years in prison on Friday for fatally shooting a Long Island man outside a funeral service in South Jamaica, qns.com reports.

Joseph Gilbert Stevens, 34, of Jamaica, pleaded guilty to manslaughter in July. His victim, Richard Carter, 49, of Valley Stream, was shot and killed on April 10, 2026, outside the Shekinah Youth Chapel on the campus of the Greater Allen A.M.E. Cathedral at the intersection of Merrick Boulevard and Sayres Avenue.

According to the charges, Stevens rode a Citi Bike to the location to attend the funeral of John "Stubby" Price, a childhood friend of Carter. Stevens entered the service and approached the casket before leaving the chapel. Approximately five minutes later, he encountered Carter walking toward the entrance on Sayres Avenue. Stevens ran toward him and fired four shots into his torso. Carter collapsed onto the roadway at the rear of a waiting hearse.

Stevens then rode north on 170th Street toward 111th Avenue. Emergency medical services transported Carter to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. The NYPD apprehended Stevens the following day.

Price, whose funeral drew the gathering, had been arrested in December 2024 following a two-year investigation known as "Operation the Price is Right." He was being held at Rikers Island awaiting trial when he suffered a medical episode at the Eric M. Taylor Center on March 29, 2026. He was transported to Elmhurst Hospital, where he died approximately 12 hours later.

Queens Supreme Court Justice Ushir Pandit-Durant imposed the 24-year sentence, to be followed by five years of post-release supervision.

Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said the defendant "acted without consideration or respect for an entire community when he brazenly fired a gun outside a funeral and killed Richard Carter." Katz added that Stevens shot Carter "at point-blank range and, after the victim collapsed onto the street behind the hearse, the defendant stood over the victim's body and continued to shoot him." She said she hoped the sentence would provide "a measure of comfort to the victim's friends and family."

Source: Google News JM — Crime