Nassau County District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly announced that a Latin Kings gang member was convicted yesterday at trial for an attempted murder on January 9, 2023, in Westbury.
Elijah Giron, 21, was convicted yesterday after a jury trial before Judge Howard Sturim, of Attempted Murder in the Second Degree (a B violent felony), two counts of Criminal Use of a Firearm in the First Degree (a B violent felony), two counts of Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Third Degree (a B felony), Attempted Assault in the First Degree (a C violent felony), two counts of Criminal Use of a Firearm in the Second Degree (a C violent felony), two counts of Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree (a C violent felony), Criminal Possession of a Firearm (an E felony), and Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Seventh Degree (an A misdemeanor).
The trial started on Thursday, February 22, 2024, and closings were yesterday. The jury deliberated for approximately three hours. The defendant faces up to 49 years in prison and is due back in court on April 23, 2024.
“This defendant – a known Latin Kings member – used extreme violence to try and kill a perceived rival of his gang,” DA Donnelly said. “During the course of Elijah Giron’s arrest, it was further discovered that he was in possession of more than 200 fentanyl pills. My office will aggressively prosecute gang members who utilize violence and sell deadly drugs because every family in Nassau County deserves to live in a safe environment.”
DA Donnelly said that on January 9, 2023, at approximately 11:17 p.m. on South Fulton Street in Westbury, defendant Elijah Giron stepped out of the driver’s seat of a Dodge Challenger and fired four rounds from a 9 mm pistol towards a person standing outside a different vehicle. The victim was not struck by the bullets. The defendant then fled the scene.
Giron and the victim, a perceived enemy of the Latin Kings gang, were in an argument on social media.
On January 20, 2023, members of the Nassau County Police Department’s Gang Investigations Squad arrested the defendant. While searching Giron, 200 pills were recovered from the defendant’s sock and three pills were recovered from his waistband.
Upon testing it was revealed that the pills – which were pressed to look like prescription pain medications – were in fact fentanyl pills.
The case is being prosecuted by Senior Assistant District Attorney Joseph Grasso and Assistant District Attorney Victoria Kharlamenko of the County Court Trial Bureau. The defendant is represented by Jason Russo, Esq.