CROWN HEIGHTS — A fifth man has been indicted in the murder of 43-year-old Carey Gabay during last year’s J’Ouvert celebration, the district attorney’s office said.
Canarsie resident Kenny Bazile, 30, faces charges of second-degree murder, criminal possession of a weapon and reckless endangerment, Brooklyn DA Ken Thompson said on Wednesday. He could serve life in prison if convicted.
Bazile, who the district attorney believes is a member of the Folk Nation gang, was identified in surveillance footage shooting and holding a gun during a gang-related shootout on Labor Day 2015 that fatally wounded Gabay, an attorney in Gov. Andrew Cuomo's administration who had been celebrating J’Ouvert.
Prosecutors say shell casings found on the scene of the shooting match a handgun found a month later in an unrelated shooting.
Bazille will be prosecuted under a “theory of mutual combat” in which all those charged are held responsible for a murder, regardless of who fired the fatal bullet, Thompson said.
Bazile was arrested in California on Sept. 1. Four others have already been indicted in the crime — Stanley Elianor, 25, was linked to the shooting and indicted last fall on weapons charges and three others — Micah Alleyne, 24, Tyshawn Crawford, 21, and Keith Luncheon, 24 — were indicted in June on murder charges.
Gabay’s death spurred a major increase in security at this year’s J’Ouvert celebration.
But despite the increase in officers and light towers deployed at the pre-dawn parade, two people — 17-year-old Tyrke Borel and 22-year-old Tiarah Payou — died and many others were injured in shootings during the festival.
A 20-year-old man has been arrested and charged in the death of Payou. No arrests have yet been made in the Borel shooting.
