Long Beach Man Convicted of Manslaughter for 2010 Shooting

A Long Beach man who shot his neighbor on a city street in 2010 was convicted of manslaughter but acquitted on a murder charge at a Nassau County court Tuesday.

Casey Fitzgerald, 21, was convicted of second-degree manslaughter and two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, District Attorney Kathleen Rice announced. But the jury, which deliberated for about four days, acquitted him of second-degree murder.

According to Rice, Fitzgerald and his neighbor, Ernest Cummings Jr., 48, got into an argument in front of Fitzgerald’s East Hudson Street home at about 3:30 p.m. on March 22, 2010. After the argument, both men returned to their homes, and a few minutes later Cummings came outside his home and found Fitzgerald waiting for him.

Fitzgerald fired three shots from a revolver, hitting Cummings once in the face, between his left eye and nose. Shortly after, Cummings was transported to South Nassau Communities Hospital in Oceanside where he was pronounced dead.

“This tragedy never would have happened if Mr. Fitzgerald had simply stayed in his home after the argument,” Rice said. “Instead, he chose to violently escalate the confrontation with a gun, and his disregard for human life will keep him in prison for a long time.”

Fitzgerald said he was acting in self-defense, said his attorney, Jeffrey Groder of Mineola. "He's relieved that he was not convicted of murder," Groder said, "but this agrees with the verdict because it has always been his position that he was defending himself."

After the shooting, Fitzgerald fled Long Beach and was arrested in Virginia on April 16, 2010, and charged with the second-degree murder. Long Beach police said this was the first shooting homicide in the city since 1997.

Fitzgerald faces a maximum of 25 years in prison. His sentencing is set for Jan. 17.

* This story was updated at 8:43 on 12/14/11.