Photo by Síle Moloney
Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark announced Monday, June 16, that a Bronx man has been sentenced to 12 years in prison and five years post release supervision for second-degree criminal possession of a weapon for firing a gun at a man on a Fordham Heights street.
“The defendant chased a man and fired two shots at him as he ran for his life on Walton Avenue,” Clark said. “Fortunately, no one was injured even though the defendant fired the gun at 11 o’clock in the morning. He was sentenced as a predicate felony offender.”
Clark said the defendant, Kenny Urbaez, 38, from the Grand Concourse in Fordham Heights, The Bronx, was sentenced to 12 years in prison and five years post release supervision for second-degree criminal possession of a weapon by Bronx Supreme Court Justice Joseph McCormack.
She said he was found guilty of the top charge against him after a jury trial on Feb. 26, and was sentenced as a predicate felony offender. She said New York State imposes stricter sentencing rules on individuals who have a prior felony conviction within 10 years of committing a new felony.
The court heard that on May 25, at around 11 a.m., the defendant, acting in concert with at least two men, who are unapprehended according to the Bronx DA’s office, waited for their target outside his building on Walton Avenue in Fordham Heights and then chased the man, firing two shots from a 9mm semi-automatic pistol at him. Prosecutors said the defendant was arrested shortly after.
The case was prosecuted by Senior Investigative Counsel Joshua Gradinger and Assistant District Attorney Tyler Lee Gibson, of the Public Integrity Bureau under the supervision of Cassie Perez, supervisor of the Public Integrity Bureau and Sarah Clements, deputy chief of the Public Integrity Bureau under the overall supervision of Denise Kodjo, deputy chief of the Investigations Division and Wanda Perez-Maldonado, chief of the Investigations Division.
Clark thanked Trial Preparation Assistant Ivan Reyes of the Public Integrity Bureau for his assistance with the case.
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Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible. Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.