BEDFORD-STUYVESANT — A Brooklyn man will spend nearly 40 years in prison for the 2014 murder of a teenage girl in Bed-Stuy, and for a separate shooting in Brownsville in which he injured a man.
Clayton Gravenhise, who was convicted earlier this month of gunning down Beverly “Ubequeen” Turner, 17, and wounding another man in a crowded courtyard, is headed to prison after a judge sentenced him to 37 years to life for the two shootings, according to acting Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez.
Gravenhise, who prosecutors said is a member of the HoodStarz street gang, was on the warpath following the death earlier that year of his older brother, prosecutors said. But according to Gonzalez, gang-related retaliation has no place on Brooklyn streets.
“This defendant’s decision to seek revenge had tragic consequences for two innocent people, costing a young woman her life and causing another man serious injury,” Gonzalez said in a statement. “These shootings were acts of gang violence, fueled by gang violence. With today’s sentence, at least one participant in this vicious cycle will be off the streets for many years to come.”
The judge sentenced Gravenhise to 24 years to life for the second-degree murder conviction, and added an additional 13 years for the first-degree attempted assault rap, prosecutors said. Gravenhise was also sentenced to 13 years for each of two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, which will not add any additional prison time and will be served concurrently, according to Gonzalez.
Gravenhise believed Turner was a relative of someone responsible for the death of his brother, and shot her as she stood on the corner of Marcy and Quincy avenues just after 1:20 a.m. on July 13, 2014, prosecutors said. He hit her in the head, chest, back, buttocks and, and 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 HoodStarz members 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 tried to flee the scene, leading police first in a car chase and then on foot, but he was nabbed nearby the scene of the shooting, prosecutors said.
