Queens Man Who Murdered Ex-Fiancée Gets 45 To Life In Prison

FAR ROCKAWAY, QUEENS -- A Far Rockaway man who shot and killed his ex-fiancée inside her apartment and then opened fire on her neighbor will likely spend the rest of his life behind bars.

Tyquan Long, 31, was sentenced to 45 years to life in prison on Wednesday for the January 2016 slaying of his estranged fiancée and the attempted murder of her neighbor. A jury convicted him of the crimes earlier this month.

Joann Gravette, 36, had an active protection order against her ex, and had asked him to leave her alone just days before she was found dead inside her Beach 34th Street apartment, prosecutors said.

Long's response: "I'd rather be dead or make peace with God in jail."

Video surveillance shows Long storming into Gravette's apartment on the morning of Jan. 27, 2016 and leaving several minutes later with what appeared to be a gun, prosecutors said.

One of Gravette's neighbors allegedly heard a loud commotion coming from her apartment that ended with a "boom" that day, according to trial testimony. Cops found Gravette dead and riddled with gunshots on her apartment floor.

"This was a sad and terrifying case," said Queens District Attorney Richard Brown. "The victim simply wanted to be left alone and to be free of her entanglement with the defendant."

But Long didn't stop there.

After leaving his ex-lover's apartment, Long is shown on video surveillance confronting her neighbor in the lobby. He told the 51-year-old woman that her son, whom he knew, was "playing games" and then shot her three times, prosecutors said.

One of the bullets sliced the woman's finger, but she was able to flee the lobby otherwise unscathed, Brown said.

Long fled the state to evade arrest but was cuffed a month after the shooting in Sacramento, California.

A jury found him guilty of second-degree murder, second-degree attempted murder, second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, second-degree assault, aggravated criminal contempt, second-degree attempted assault and petit larceny.

(Lead photo via Shutterstock)