WOODSIDE — A man was sentenced to 22 years in prison for fatally shooting a 25-year-old man outside a Queens nightclub in 2013, according to the Queens District Attorney's office.
Prosecutors say Dwayne Johnson, 30, fired several shots at 25-year-old Allah Howell outside the now-shuttered Perfections Nightclub in the early morning hours of Oct. 5, 2013. The victim was killed after bullets pierced his lung and heart, officials said.
An NYPD sergeant who was doing crowd control at the club, located at 62-05 30th Ave., witnessed the shooting and chased Johnson after he fled the scene. He was found hiding in a nearby cemetery where he was arrested, according to officials.
A .38 caliber revolver with Johnson's DNA on it was recovered behind a building between the club and the graveyard, officials said.
Johnson, of Queens Village, pleaded guilty last year to first degree manslaughter and was sentenced Tuesday by Queens Supreme Court Justice Gregory L. Lasak, according to the DA's office.
His attorney Scott Brettschneider — who did not represent Johnson when he entered his plea in 2016 — said he'd sought to withdraw his defendants' guilty plea, but the judge denied his motion.
"We thought that there was viable issues that might've shown that Mr. Johnson did not commit this crime," Brettschneider said.
Queens DA Richard Brown called the crime a "senseless killing."
"As a result of this brazen crime, the children of the victim will never see their father again. And the defendant — a father as well — will be locked away for long term of incarceration," Brown said in a statement. "Violence has no place in a civilized society.”
