Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Dwayne Scott of Buffalo was sentenced to more than two decades in prison for gunning down a young father on the street near his Ozone Park home in a dispute over money in 2021.
File photo by Lloyd Mitchell
A Buffalo man was sentenced to more than two decades in prison for gunning down a young Ozone Park father just steps from his home in September 2021.
Dwayne Scott, 27, pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the first degree for shooting 20-year-old Brandon Rodriguez to death after he parked his car near the intersection of 102nd Road and 84th Street. Rodriguez was the father of an 18-month-old boy and Scott’s former friend, who was fatally shot over an apparent money dispute.
According to the charges and investigation, on the evening of Sept. 24, 2021, Rodriguez had parked in front of 84-01 102nd Rd. and was walking down the street when Scott stepped out of another vehicle and fired at his former friend multiple times at point blank range, striking him multiple times, all over his body. Rodriguez was discovered by a neighbor, who transported him to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, where he succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead.
Just before his death, Rodriguez told the neighbor that “Ferry Balla” — a known nickname for Scott — from Buffalo shot him.
Law enforcement apprehended Scott in Buffalo a few weeks later and returned to Queens to face charges. Scott and the victim had a falling out over a money dispute valued at approximately $4,000.
“The defendant killed his former friend over nothing more than a dispute over several thousand dollars and left behind lasting trauma for both families,” Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said.
Scott pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the first degree before Queens Supreme Court Justice Michael Aloise on April 9. Queens Supreme Court Justice Michael Yavinsky sentenced him on May 14 to 21 ½ years in prison to be followed by five years of post-release supervision.
“His sentencing cannot undo the harm, but we hope it provides the victim’s loved ones with a sense of closure from this senseless act of gun violence,” Katz said.