Man Who Killed 17-Year-Old Girl To Avenge Brother's Death Convicted Of Murder, Prosecutors Say

BROWNSVILLE, BROOKLYN — A man who fatally shot a teenage girl in the head and sprayed bullets into a crowd of bystanders in separate acts of revenge for his brother’s killing was convicted of murder Monday.

“This defendant perpetuated a cruel cycle of gang violence,” said Brooklyn's Acting District Attorney Eric Gonzalez in a statement. “An innocent teenage girl is dead and a man was gravely wounded for no reason at all.”

Clayton Gravenhise, 22, confessed to shooting Ubequeen Turner, 17, in the head, chest, back, buttocks and arm on the corner of Quincy Street and Marcy Avenue in Bedford Stuyvesant around 1:20 a.m. on July 13, 2014, according to trial testimony.

Turner was a relative of the man Gravenhise believed had killed his brother earlier that month, the acting DA said.

Gravenhise sought further revenge on his dead brother’s birthday — Nov. 11, 2014 — when he shot into a busy courtyard on Lott Avenue, near Mother Gaston Boulevard, in Brownsville around 10:50 p.m., according to trial testimony.

Gravenhise, who is a member of the HoodStarz gang, and several others shot a 32-year-old man in the back before fleeing police, according to the acting DA.

The man who was shot survived but still had a bullet lodged in his body at the time of the trial, the acting DA said.

Gravenhise was arrested after a police chase and later confessed that the shootings had been spurred by his need to avenge his brother’s death, the acting DA said in a written statement.

The 22-year-old man faces 40 years to life in prison. He is schedued to be sentenced in Brooklyn Supreme Court on April 24.

Gravenhise's attorney Samual Karliner was disappointed by the verdict because the acting DA's only evidence was Gravenhise's confession, which Karliner said was riddled with contradictions.

At the time, Gravenhise had also confessed to a shooting in a nearby liquor store, but evidence showed Gravenhise could not have been that gunman, Karliner said.

Karliner argued that because Gravenhise had lied in one confession and the acting district attorney had failed to produce a witness to the Turner shooting, Gravenhise's confession did not prove his guilt.

Karliner believes the jury came back with a guilty verdict because "there wasn't enough external contradictory evidence to disprove his statement."

Karliner intends to appeal the decision, he said.

"He's unhappy," Karliner said of his client.