Mar. 28, 2023 By Bill Parry
Two Jamaica men are facing life in prison after they were found guilty on March 27 of murder and other charges for shooting two brothers and killing one of them during a Richmond Hill robbery more than six years ago, according to Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz.
Shakim Allen, 29, of Merrick Avenue, and Dreshaun Smith, 29, of 160th Street, were convicted by a jury in Queens Supreme Court of murder, attempted murder, assault, robbery, criminal possession of a weapon and tampering with physical evidence. Additionally, Allen was convicted of criminal possession of stolen property, while Smith was convicted of arson.
According to the charges, On Jan. 2, 2017, at approximately 3:22 a.m., near the corner of 124th Street and Liberty Avenue, Allen got out of a two-door Mercedes-Benz driven by Smith and pointed a gun at 24-year-old Sonny Kalisaran. Kalisaran who attempted to run away. The victim’s brother, 31-year-old Rocky Kalisaran of Guyana who was waiting nearby, saw the confrontation and ran to his brother’s aid. Allen then pursued both men as they fled.
Allen caught up to the brothers and wrestled with the older victim over his gun, which discharged, the charges state. The younger victim yelled for help as he used a key chain pen knife to stab and slash Allen several times in the face. Smith drove up to them and got out of the car with a raised gun and fired multiple times at the two victims. He struck the younger Kalisaran brother in the arm and back as he ran and the older victim in the chest, lower torso and leg. At some point, Allen picked up the younger victim’s cell phone and wallet from the ground, then both defendants got back into the car and drove away from the crime scene.
The FBI Cellular Analysis Survey Team later determined and presented evidence at trial that showed that the defendants fled the crime scene and drove to Cohen Children’s Hospital in New Hyde Park. Video surveillance showed Allen discarding Sonny Kalisaran’s phone and wallet in a sewer prior to entering the hospital, where Allen was treated for his stab and slash wounds, according to the DA’s office.
Later that day, at approximately 6:45 p.m., the FDNY responded to a vehicle fire in a rear parking lot on 186th Street and 104th Avenue in Jamaica. When police arrived, they identified the burnt vehicle to be a Mercedes-Benz coupe registered to Smith’s girlfriend. Video surveillance footage showed Smith purchasing gasoline and setting the car on fire shortly before it was discovered, according to the charges.
After the robbery, police from the 106th Precinct in Ozone Park responded to the scene, having received a 911 call about shots fired at the location. Upon their arrival, the officers found the 31-year-old Kalisaran with gunshot wounds to his chest and the 24-year-old man with gunshot wounds to his back. EMS arrived at the crime scene and rushed the brothers to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center. The older victim, Rocky Kalisaran, died later that day of his gunshot injuries, becoming the city’s first victim of a fatal shooting in 2017, the charges state.
“One of the victims, who was visiting from Guyana, lost his life trying to protect his younger brother,” Katz said. “This family has experienced tremendous grief and I hope this conviction provides them a measure of closure. The defendants face long sentences for their callous actions.”
The defendants face possible sentences of more than 50 years to life in prison by Queens Supreme Court Justice Ira Margulis on April 21.