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Brooklyn Man Found Guilty of Fatally Shooting Teenage Girl in 2014, DA Says

 Clayton Gravenhise, 22, was found guilty on Monday of fatally shooting Beverly Turner, 17, on a Bed-Stuy corner in 2014.
Clayton Gravenhise, 22, was found guilty on Monday of fatally shooting Beverly Turner, 17, on a Bed-Stuy corner in 2014.
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Brooklyn District Attorney's Office

BEDFORD-STUYVESANT — A Brooklyn man was convicted of murder and other charges in connection to a pair of revenge-motivated shootings in Bedford-Stuyvesant and Brownsville in 2014 that left a teenage girl dead, prosecutors say.

A jury found Clayton Gravenhise, 22, guilty of gunning down Beverly "Ubequeen" Turner, 17, on July 13, 2014 in Bed-Stuy and shooting up a crowded courtyard in Brownsville. Prosecutors said it was a plot to get revenge for his slain brother that led to his convictiion on charges of second-degree murder, attempted assault and criminal possession of a weapon in Brooklyn Supreme Court on Monday.

Acting Brooklyn DA Eric Gonzalaz said the conviction was a strike against street violence and brought some justice to the families of Gravenhise’s victims.

“This defendant perpetuated a cruel cycle of gang violence, striking down blameless bystanders who had unknowingly stumbled into the path of his rage,” Gonzalez said in a statement. “An innocent teenage girl is dead and a man was gravely wounded for no reason at all. The small comfort we can take is that today’s verdict ensures that this clearly dangerous individual will be removed from our streets.”

The gunman, who was 19 when he was arrested, faces a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison, Gonzalez said.

At the time of the shootings, Gravenhise was on the warpath to avenge the killing of his older brother Nathaniel Gravenhise, who was murdered on July 3, 2014, in a shooting in Crown Heights, prosecutors said. He targeted Turner because he thought she was related to the man who killed his brother, Gonzalez said.

Turner was standing at the corner of Quincy and Marcy avenues at around 1:20 a.m. on July 13 when Gravenhise opened fire, hitting her in the head, chest, back, buttocks and arm. She died of her wounds soon after EMTs rushed her to Kings County Hospital, prosecutors said.

A former neighbor at the time of the shooting described Turner as “jolly, joyful,” with a beautiful smile, according to the Daily News.

Gravenhise struck again Nov. 11, 2014, his brother’s birthday, when he and other members of the gang prosecutors said he was a member of, Hoodstarz, drove to an apartment building courtyard on Lott Avenue near Mother Gaston Boulevard in Brownsville. Gravenhise, along with his fellow gang members, opened fire on the crowded scene, according to trial testimony.

A 32-year-old man shot in the back that night is still living with the bullet lodged in his body, Gonzalez said.

Gravenhise led police in a car chase away from the courtyard and then tried to flee, but officers nabbed him before he could escape, according to prosecutors.

At the time, he confessed to the shootings, and also told police he had been responsible for another murder, the fatal Aug. 29 shooting of Jahzeph Crooks in Brownsville, but he was acquitted of any involvement in that shooting, according to a spokesman for the Brooklyn DA.

Gravenhise is due to be sentenced April 24, and could spend up to 40 years in prison, prosecutors said.