Man Sentenced To 23 Years For Fort Greene Killing, DA Says

FORT GREENE, NY — A man who gunned down a person outside a Fort Greene building because he mistakenly thought he'd robbed him earlier will spend 23 years behind bars for the killing, prosecutors said.

Leonaldo Parrado, 24, was sentenced to prison Wednesday for the 2015 murder of Kevin Colon, 20, outside the Walt Whitman Houses in Fort Greene, District Attorney Eric Gonzalez announced.

"The defendant thought himself above the law by taking matters into his own hands, and in the process senselessly ended the life of an innocent man," Gonzalez said in a statement. "I’m committed to prosecuting violent criminals and making Brooklyn safe for all its residents."

Parrado, of Brownsville, mistakenly believed Colon was part of a group of men who robbed Parrado in 2014 wearing clown masks, prosecutors said.

On Feb. 19, 2015, Colon was leaving the Walt Whitman Houses apartment he shared with his mom when Parrado met him in the courtyard at about 1:50 p.m., authorities said.

Parrado fired four to five shots at Colon as retaliation for the robbery then was caught running away on surveillance footage, prosecutors said. Colon was taken to Brooklyn Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Authorities eventually tied Parrado to the shooting and arrested him near his Brownsville home on Sept. 19, 2015. He was convicted of manslaughter an criminal possession of a weapon by a jury in April, the DA said.

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