Bed-Stuy Man Kills Neighbor Who Teased Him About $8 Debt, DA Says

BEDFORD STUYVESANT, BROOKLYN — The Bed-Stuy man who murdered a neighbor after being taunted about his $8 debt could spend his life in prison, prosecutors said.

Christopher Chandler, 36, was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison for shooting Kenric Tomlin five times in the stairwell of 940 Gates Ave. on April 21, 2016, the Brooklyn District Attorney's office announced Tuesday.

Tomlin infuriated Chandler by teasing him about the $8 he had lent Chandler, and that Chandler had not paid back, prosecutors said. So the indebted Bed-Stuy man called Tomlin, lured him into the hallway and shot him repeatedly in the back and torso, prosecutors said.

Chandler rushed back into his home and hid his gun in his girlfriend’s backpack without telling her, said prosecutors. His then-girlfriend left the building before police arrived, unintentionally taking the weapon with her.

Chandler then fled to a relative’s house in New Jersey where investigators arrested him more than a month later on June 6, prosecutors said.

Tomlin, 45, died in Woodhull Hospital the day he was shot, said prosecutors.

Chandler was sentenced to between 25 years and life in Brooklyn Criminal Court after a jury found him guilty of murder and criminal possession of a weapon in May, prosecutors said.

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