Iquan Warlick of Fort Greene, along with others, were sentenced to prison for killing a college student and a young woman, and wounding several others in separate shootings in East New York and Bedford-Stuyvesant in 2020.
A Brooklyn man on Tuesday was sentenced to 33 years to life in prison for a spate of shootings that left three people dead in East New York and Bedford-Stuyvesant in 2020.
Iquan Warlick, 21, of Fort Greene, pleaded guilty to three counts of second-degree murder, nine counts of second-degree attempted murder, two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon and one count of second-degree conspiracy on Sept. 11. His sentence is comprised of two consecutive terms of 17 years to life and a term of 16 years to life in prison, plus another term of 15 years to life to run concurrently, according to Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez.
A co-defendant, Ziquan Thompson, 22, of Fort Greene, was sentenced to 20 years in prison on July 18. Another co-defendant, George Risher Jr., 21, also of Fort Greene, was sentenced him to 26 years in prison on Sept. 15.
Between 2019 and 2021, the defendants were members of the Fort Greene-based gang known as FNO (Fort N**** Only or Fear No One) and were aligned with two other street gangs — PPP (Pistol Packing Pitkin) and YAWAH (Young and Wild and Hustling) — forming a coalition known as YPF. In January 2022, 17 members of this alliance were variously charged in two indictments on 118 counts, including 14 shootings that left nine people injured and four dead.
On Sept. 12, 2020, at approximately 5:50pm, Thompson and another unidentified individual were in communication with Warlick via text messages while Warlick continued to communicate the whereabouts of gang member Wayne Lafontant, 23. Thompson and this unidentified individual approached Lafontant in the courtyard of 330 Hudson Walk, firing multiple shots, killing him, according to Gonzalez.
Furthermore, on Oct. 28, 2020, at approximately 6:05pm, Warlick and co-defendant Nakhai Addison, a fellow FNO member who was previously sentenced to up to six years in prison, got off the train in East New York and walked to a bodega located at 296 New Lots Ave. to confront a rival gang member. Inside the store was 18-year-old Sherard McKoy, a college freshman who was not affiliated with a gang. The rival stepped outside, saw Warlick and Addison and went inside to warn McKoy. Warlick and Addison then entered the bodega, where Warlick pulled out a gun and chased McKoy out of the bodega, and fired multiple shots, killing him.
In a separate incident on Nov. 22, 2020, defendants Warlick and Risher, along with at least two other unidentified individuals, ambushed a birthday party in East New York held for a 16-year-old in which enemies of YPF would be in attendance. One of the unidentified individuals shot at a group near the venue, striking a rival gang member in the leg.
A short time later, Warlick, Risher and two unidentified individuals went to 15 Albany Ave. in Bedford-Stuyvesant, where the party had relocated. Risher and one of the unidentified gunmen went to the third floor and fired multiple shots, striking and injuring five people and killing Daijyonna Long, 20, who was a college student visiting from Virginia. Warlick and another individual remained on the first floor, where they each fired shots towards the group located there, striking and injuring another rival gang member who was in an elevator on the first floor, according to Gonzalez.
“These defendants turned our streets into shooting galleries and showed shocking disregard for human life,” Gonzalez said in a statement. “Three innocent people were killed, others wounded, and the defendants tried to intimidate whole neighborhoods. That ends here. Long prison terms like this send a simple message to anyone who thinks gang beefs can be settled with a gun: Brooklyn will not tolerate it, and we will hold you accountable.”