An ex-con devoted dad who was an aspiring rapper was shot to death on the street outside a Hell’s Kitchen rooftop nightclub early Sunday, cops said.
Gibson Winters, 39, was shot in the back and groin near W. 46th St. and Twelth Ave. at about 4:10 a.m., cops said.
The scene unfolded outside the Harbor NYC Club, though a police spokeswoman couldn’t say Sunday if the shooting was linked to the club.
Medics rushed the victim to Mount Sinai Morningside, but he could not be saved.
Theodore Parisienne / New York Daily News
A 39-year-old man was shot to death on the street outside a Hell’s Kitchen rooftop nightclub early Sunday. (Theodore Parisienne / New York Daily News)
Winters, who was released from federal jail three years ago, had devoted himself to trying to launch a rap music career and to taking care of his young daughters, his lawyer, Camille Russell, told the Daily News.
“From what I understand, it’s a senseless killing that he actually had nothing to do with,” she said. “He was defending someone, from what I had been told. I don’t even think he really knew them, but they were being attacked and then he stepped in to assist and then was subsequently killed.”
Winters spent more that two years in MDC Brooklyn federal jail after his indictment on charges he and other members of the Rollin 60 Crips ran a cocaine dealing conspiracy. He was released with time served in October 2022.
“From the moment I met him, I knew he had a tremendous bond with his two daughters,” said Russell, who represented him in that case. “That’s pretty much the only thing he talked about, getting back to them. … He was always a hands-on father, picking them up from school, taking them to school. He was very involved in their day-to-day.”
Winters’ family is “devastated” by the killing, she said.
Obtained by Daily News
Gibson Winters with his daughter. Winters, 39, was shot to death on the street outside a Hell’s Kitchen nightclub early Sunday. (Obtained by Daily News)
In an October 2020 letter to a Brooklyn Federal Court judge, Winters talked about his devotion to his girls as he pleaded for his release on bond. She also noted he was making progress in his hoped-for music career.
“If I have to go to prison for this case, I would at least like some time with my daughters Allure and Aalani. Like most men, I love my daughters more than life itself,” he wrote. “My kids depend on me and see me as a strong father figure. I did not get the opportunity to at least say goodbye to them and have a talk with them about what my future may hold.”
His bond was denied at the time, with federal prosecutors pointing to his criminal past and accusing him of being present during the July 8, 2019, shooting death of a man named Julius Caesar, 31, on Union St. and Utica Ave. in Crown Heights.
Winters’ cousin, Terrell Winters, was charged with the shooting, and Russell in her court filings said Gibson didn’t know what was about to happen and was caught on video throwing his arms in the air, indicating his surprise at the shooting.
Russell said Sunday she didn’t think Winters’ past had anything to do with his killing.
“He was trying to better himself, and then he could make a living for him and his kids,” she said. “I don’t think Gibson had any involvement in anything negative in that regard.”
Cops have made no arrests.
With Rocco Parascandola