A Brooklyn man convicted of gunning down an innocent bystander during a chaotic shooting in a crowded Crown Heights park was sentenced Tuesday to 15 years to life in prison. The ruling caps a yearslong prosecution tied to a broad-daylight attack that killed a father of two.

The defendant, 21-year-old Gucci Morris, was sentenced on May 12 to 15 years to life in prison for the fatal shooting of 53-year-old Christopher Ross on Aug. 9, 2020 in Crown Heights. According to District Attorney Eric Gonzalez’s office, Ross was enjoying a summer afternoon in Lincoln Terrace Park when he was struck by a bullet intended for someone else.

“Christopher Ross was a father who went to a neighborhood park and never came home,” Gonzalez said in a statement. “The defendant fired multiple shots in a space filled with families and children, killing a man who had nothing to do with the dispute, but was just trying to enjoy a summer afternoon. No family should have to endure that loss.”

A mural inside the handball courts at Lincoln Terrace Park in August 2020, where Christopher Ross was shot and killed by a stray bullet.File photo by Paul Frangipane

Prosecutors said Morris arrived at the park at approximately 5 p.m. that day with a group of friends while carrying a loaded handgun. Around the same time, Ross arrived at the park to play handball with friends.

Authorities said a fight broke out between two groups near a playground and the handball courts when Morris pulled out the gun and fired several shots. One bullet traveled through a fence surrounding the court and struck Ross in the head. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

The gunfire sent families and children running for cover in the crowded park, prosecutors said. Morris fled with others and later changed his appearance to avoid arrest.

Investigators identified Morris through witness statements, surveillance video, cellphone evidence and people who knew him, prosecutors said. He was arrested in February 2022 and convicted of second-degree murder last October following a jury trial.

Ross’ death marked the second shooting in Lincoln Terrace Park that summer, after a 27-year-old man was found dead on the park’s steps with gunshot wounds to the head on July 7, 2020.

Ross’ death marked the second shooting in Lincoln Terrace Park that summer, following an earlier incident on July 7, 2020, when a 27-year-old man was found dead on the park’s steps with gunshot wounds to the head.File photo by Lloyd Mitchell

At the time of the shooting, Crown Heights’ 77th Precinct was experiencing a sharp rise in gun violence during a turbulent summer across New York City. As of Aug. 19, 2020, shootings in the precinct had increased 125% compared with the same period a year earlier, with 36 incidents reported in 2020 versus 16 in 2019.

Nearly six years later, shootings in the precinct have fallen sharply. As of May 10, the most recent date for which NYPD data is available, there had been just three reported shootings in the precinct — though that still marked an increase over the two incidents recorded during the same period in 2025.

The Brooklyn DA said Tuesday that Ross’ killing underscored the devastating consequences of gun violence in public spaces.

“My office will continue the steady work of keeping guns off Brooklyn streets and ensuring people can feel safe in our communities,” Gonzalez said.