Man Convicted Of New Year's 1991 Brooklyn Murder After New Trial
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A man was convicted this week of shooting a man in the face outside a New Year's Eve party in Brooklyn 25 years ago.
Derrick Lloyd, 55, now of Montgomery, Alabama, was convicted Thursday of second-degree murder by a jury in the death of William Smith, following a trial by Brooklyn Supreme Court Judge Neil Firetog, according to the Brooklyn District Attorney's office. He was arrested in Alabama in 2007 after living there under an assumed identity, the DA's office said.
Lloyd was convicted in 2011, but his first conviction was overturned on appeal and he was granted a new trial, prosecutors said.
"The evidence again showed that this defendant is guilty of a brutal murder," Brooklyn District Attorney Kenneth Thompson said in a news release. "It has been a long road to justice in this case and I am confident that today's verdict will ensure that this dangerous man will remain off our streets."
At trial, witnesses said in the wee hours on Jan. 1, 1991, Lloyd walked out of a house party at 5624 Farragut Rd. in East Flatbush, Brooklyn, looking for a drunken man who had caused a disturbance at the party. He came up to a group of people sitting on a bench, and demanded to know where the person went, prosecutors said.
When no one knew, Lloyd said, "I want answers now," and Smith said, "We all want answers," prosecutors said. Lloyd and Smith got into a fight, and Lloyd shot Smith in the face and killed him, prosecutors said.
Lloyd was identified as a witness on the day of the incident, but no one could find him, prosecutors said. But in 2007 – living under the name Rashad Hamid – he walked into an Alabama Department of Motor Vehicles location and a clerk saw he was using fraudulent documents, prosecutors said.
He was later identified as Lloyd, who was the subject of an extensive search and had been featured on "America's Most Wanted," prosecutors said.
A New York Daily News report said Lloyd first went on trial in 2010, but a jury could not agree on a verdict. He went on trial again in 2011 and was convicted, prosecutors said.
Initially, he was sentenced to 18 years in prison before an appeals panel overturned his conviction. He now faces a sentence of 18 years to life on April 20, prosecutors said.
