Whitestone gang member sentenced for execution-style shooting of Middle Village father outside Corona bodega: DA – QNS

Omar Prado, 27, of 20th Avenue, pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the first degree in June, admitting he shot the victim, Kelvin Gomez, a half-decade earlier.

According to the charges and investigation, on the morning of June 2, 2021, Prado, a member of the La Familia street gang, arrived at the Corona’s Finest Grocery Corp., located at 57-18 108th St., at approximately 10 a.m. About a half hour later, Gomez, 29, of 62nd Drive in Middle Village, went into the bodega and got into a verbal argument with Prado. Gomez left the store but returned at around 5 p.m.

At the same time, Prado emerged from a silver Mercedes-Benz that was parked down the block. He approached Gomez and they had a brief conversation. At around 5:08 p.m., Prado removed a firearm from his sweatshirt pocket and fired one round into the back of the victim’s head from less than two feet away. Prado then ran to the corner of Van Doren Street where the silver Mercedes-Benz getaway car was waiting for him to flee. EMS responded to the location and pronounced Gomez dead at the crime scene.

Prado fled to South America on June 4, less than 48 hours after the shooting. He was arrested when he returned to Queens and was booked at the 110th Precinct on Oct. 5, 2021.

“After a petty verbal argument, defendant Omar Prado waited for Kelvin Gomez to return to a local deli and shot him in the back of the head from less than two feet away,” Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said. “Gomez, a 29-year-old father, was killed instantly and the defendant fled to Ecuador.”

Prado pleaded guilty on June 25 before Queens Supreme Court Justice Frances Wang who on July 28 sentenced him to 23 years in prison to be followed by five years of post-release supervision.

“Thanks to the hard work of NYPD homicide detectives and my prosecutors, the defendant was apprehended, and with this sentence, we have brought some measure of justice for the family and friends of Kelvin Gomez,” Kats said. “We will not stop in our efforts to end the cycle of destruction caused by illegal gun violence in our neighborhoods.”