Defendant sentenced for shooting stranger near Barclays Center

Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez announced the sentencing of a man for the shooting death of a Staten Island man following a verbal dispute near the Barclays Center in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn.

“Today’s sentence holds this defendant accountable for this incredibly callous shooting of an innocent man. Steven Vargas was a beloved brother and uncle who was violently and senselessly taken from his family and friends,” Gonzalez said, adding that despite this incident, gun violence is currently at record lows.

“My thoughts are with Mr. Vargas’ loved ones today as they continue to deal with this profound loss.”

The defendant, Matthew Passaro, 53, was sentenced by Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Danny Chun to 25 years to life in prison for second-degree murder on Nov. 18, 2025, following a jury trial.

According to the evidence, on Sept. 20, 2017, the defendant was walking on Atlantic Avenue in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn.

He came upon the victim, 47-year-old Stephen Vargas, whom he didn’t know, standing on the corner of Atlantic Avenue and Fourth Avenue, and started yelling at him.

The defendant then walked about a block and a half, changed his clothes and returned to where the victim was standing, around Fourth Avenue and Atlantic Avenue.

At about 8:15 p.m., he shot him multiple times outside 578 Atlantic Avenue, killing him, according to trial testimony.

The evidence showed that the defendant fired seven times, striking the victim six times about his body, including his spine, liver, kidneys, lungs and heart, instantly killing him.

The defendant fled and was arrested on Nov. 1, 2017, inside the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Midtown Manhattan.

A loaded .45-caliber pistol was recovered from the defendant. A microscopic analysis of the recovered gun and ballistic evidence from the scene of the shooting determined that this was the same gun used to kill Vargas.

Following his arrest, according to trial testimony, the defendant admitted to police that he killed the victim.

The case was prosecuted by Senior Assistant District Attorney Jhounelle Cunningham of the District Attorney’s Homicide Bureau and Assistant District Attorney Kaitlin Kinsella of the District Attorney’s Blue Zone Trial Bureau, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Leila Rosini, Homicide Bureau Chief.