Brooklyn man convicted of Christmas Eve fatal shooting of teen: DA

A 20-year-old Coney Island man is facing anywhere from more than two decades to life in prison after prosecutors said he murdered a teen in 2013 as the boy was walking his dog.

Jerome Leslie was convicted on Thursday of second-degree murder and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon. He will be sentenced on May 4 where he faces a maximum sentence of 25 years to life in jail.

According to prosecutors, on Dec. 24, 2013 minutes before 7 p.m. Leslie went looking for 17-year-old Yaquin English at his Coney Island apartment building at 3144 Bayview Ave.

Moments later English got off the elevator with his dog and Leslie began shooting at the victim, striking him seven times, authorities said. English’s pitbull, which was tied to a railing, was wounded in its paw.

According to authorities, in the weeks before the fatal shooting, English had gotten into an argument with Leslie, who has been “romantically involved” with his cousin. Leslie allegedly threatened to kill English during the online dispute.

Leslie was arrested in February 2014 and later admitted to detective his involvement in the shooting.

“This defendant escalated an online dispute into a deadly shooting,” said Brooklyn District Attorney Ken Thompson. “He took a life for no reason at all and will now pay for it dearly by spending many years in prison.”