Wildwood Gunfighter Loses Appeal

COURT HOUSE — A Jamaica, N.Y. man, who is serving time in state prison for his role in a Wildwood gunfight nearly five years ago, lost a recent appeal.
According to court documents, Tahiem Allah Howell and his friends, Sharod Thomas and Joel Gonzalez, were involved in an early morning “Wild West-like” shootout with a fourth man, Daniel Edros on Oct. 24, 2004.
Police calls from the time reported gunfire in the 100 blocks of East Davis, East Burk and East Andrews avenues. Investigating officers found guns, clips and casings littered throughout the neighborhood. Three men were treated for gunshot wounds. Edros was shot in the right shoulder, Howell in the stomach and Gonzalez in the thigh.
Newspaper reports of the incident characterized it as a “drug deal gone bad.”
Howell, now 30, was acquitted of attempted murder but convicted of the lesser, included offence of aggravated assault as well as weapons offences. Superior Court Judge Carmen Alvarez on June 16, 2006 sentenced him to seven years imprisonment with no parole eligibility for 85 percent of the term.
He is also serving five years for an unrelated drug charge. According to the state Department of Corrections, his projected max release date is Feb. 27, 2014.
Howell received the longest sentence of the four men involved in the gunfight. Thomas got a four-year state prison term while Edros and Gonzalez both plead guilty and were sentenced to five and three years, respectively.
On Jan. 29 this year, Howell submitted an appeal challenging his conviction and sentence. He argued that the court erred by allowing inadmissible and prejudicial evidence and by failing two merge his weapons charges; the jury’s verdicts were against the weight of evidence; and the sentence imposed was manifestly excessive.
Appellate Judges Francine Axelrad, Marie Lihotz and Carmen Messano denied Howell’s appeal.
“We are not persuaded by any of defendant’s arguments and affirm,” the decision stated.
The judges found that certain challenged hearsay evidence implicating Howell and his friends was admissible as an “excited utterance” made by Edros shortly after being shot. They also determined that Howell’s seven-year sentence was not too long.
“The judge (Alvarez) properly followed and applied the sentencing guidelines and criteria, and the sentence does not shock our judicial conscience,” the judges wrote.
With his appeal rejected, Howell will continue to reside in Leesburg, Cumberland County at the Bayside State Prison until he becomes eligible for parole.
Contact Hart at (609) 886-8600 Ext 35 or at: jhart@cmcherald.com