The Bronx man who shot three victims, killing one, outside Kew Gardens’ former Umbrella Hotel on New Year’s Day in 2021 was convicted of murder and other crimes, the office of Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced March 19.
Richard Swygert, 24, and his companions entered the hotel at 82nd Avenue and Queens Boulevard at around 1:09 a.m. Jan. 1, the DA said. The three victims exited the elevator, and Swygert’s group followed them into the lobby and outside.
A physical fight broke out between the two groups after a victim exchanged words with one of Swygert’s companions. The defendant pulled a gun and fired multiple rounds, shooting 20-year-old Robert Deandre Williams of Rosedale five times. Williams was later pronounced dead at an area hospital.
Swygert shot at another victim six times, hitting his stomach, arms and legs, and the third was struck once in the leg. Both men survived, but one needed life-saving surgery, and other operations to save his leg from amputation. The other was treated for a bullet wound to his thigh.
Thirteen spent shell casings were found on the scene. The embattled hotel permanently closed shortly after the incident, which was the city’s first homicide of 2021.
Swygert was arrested in October of that year. He was found guilty of second-degree murder, two counts of second-degree attempted murder, first- and second-degree assault and two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, as per the DA’s Office.
Katz said Swygert showed a “complete disregard for human life” the night he “turned a quiet Kew Gardens street into a shooting gallery.”
He faces up to 75 years to life in prison at his sentencing, set for April 24.