Queens Gunman Jailed For Killing Man In Botched Jamaica Robbery

JAMAICA, QUEENS -- A Queens man will serve up to the rest of his life behind bars for shooting and killing a man in a robbery plot gone awry.

Russhawn Lindsay, 36, of Kew Gardens, was sentenced to 24 years to life in prison on Thursday after a jury unanimously found him guilty of fatally shooting Michael Jonathan, 33, in Jamaica during a botched robbery attempt he allegedly planned with Jonathan's girlfriend in March 2015, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said.

"This was a senseless act of violence," Brown said. The defendant - driven by greed and avarice - thought he had an easy robbery target. Instead, a tense confrontation escalated into a needless shooting with an innocent man dead."

According to the charges, Lindsay had planned to rob Jonathan in a plot allegedly coordinated by Jonathan's girlfriend and another unknown person. The plot unfolded on March 26, 2015, on Fonda Avenue, where Lindsay pulled out a gun and pointed it at Jonathan, demanding cash, Brown said.

But Jonathan resisted and, as the two struggled for the gun, Lindsay shot a bullet into his stomach that ultimately killed him, according to the charges.

A jury unanimously convicted Lindsay of second-degree murder, first-degree attempted robbery and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon in November. Jonathan's girlfriend has also been indicted and her case is pending, Brown said.

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