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George Rosa was shot while walking his dog along 40th Avenue between 21st and 22nd streets.
By Forum Staff
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced on Friday that a Long Island City man has been sentenced to 19 years in prison after pleading guilty to manslaughter in the shooting death of a schoolteacher who was walking his dog when the defendant fired upon a rival gang member in broad daylight.
The victim, George Rosa, 53, was shot in the abdomen by a stray bullet fired by Ike Ford, who was 17 at the time of the July 2020 shooting but has been sentenced as an adult given the severity of the crime.
Ford pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the first degree before Queens Supreme Court Justice Kenneth Holder, who sentenced the defendant to 19 years in prison followed by five years’ of post-release supervision.
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“It’s precisely to prevent tragedies such as this that we fight so hard to get illegal guns and the criminals who use them off our streets,” DA Katz said.
According to the charges, at approximately 11:20 a.m. on July 25, 2020, George Rosa, 53, was walking his dog in his Long Island City neighborhood, along 40th Avenue between 21st and 22nd streets. The defendant, aided by fellow gang member Delante Aiken, fired several shots at a rival gang member but missed his target and struck Rosa. The victim was rushed to a nearby hospital and died from the gunshot wound 31 days later.
Ford was originally arrested Aug. 25, 2020, following another shooting in which he was accused of firing a gun near 40th Avenue and 10th Street in Queens. No one was believed to have been injured. Ford was re-arrested in August 2021, along with Aiken and 26 other reputed gang members indicted on conspiracy, murder, weapons and other charges for crimes committed in Long Island City.
“The entire city grieved the senseless death of beloved social studies teacher George Rosa, who was simply walking his dog. It’s precisely to prevent tragedies such as this that we fight so hard to get illegal guns and the criminals who use them off our streets. We will not surrender our streets to reckless violence and illegal guns,” Katz said.
