Nassau County District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly announced that a Hempstead man was sentenced today to 19 years to life in prison for the murder of a 25-year-old man in a Hempstead backyard in May 2021.
Ryan Hamilton, 24, pleaded guilty on February 15, 2024, before Judge Teresa Corrigan to Murder in the Second Degree (an A-I felony) and Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree (a C violent felony). The defendant was sentenced today to 19 years to life in prison. NCDA recommended a sentence of 22 years to life in prison.
“When an argument broke out in the backyard of a Hempstead home Ryan Hamilton chose to end it with violence, shooting 25-year-old Trendabi Reid in the face and killing him,” said DA Donnelly. “Our thoughts are with Trendabi’s family today as this defendant is sentenced for his senseless and vicious actions.”
DA Donnelly said, according to the charges, on May 7, 2021, at approximately 5:30 p.m. in the rear yard of 21 James LL Burrell Avenue in Hempstead, Ryan Hamilton was socializing with several other individuals. The defendant was in possession of a firearm that he was cleaning.
When 25-year-old victim Trendabi Reid arrived at the home, he and another individual began arguing about a debt. The fight escalated and the pair began pushing and shoving one another.
Hamilton, who had not been involved in the altercation, approached the victim, and fired a single round from a .9mm firearm, striking Reid in the face and causing his death. Hamilton then fled the yard.
The firearm was recovered later that evening in a vacant lot approximately two blocks away from where the incident took place.
Hamilton was arrested by Detectives with the Nassau County Police Department’s Homicide Squad on June 23, 2021, in Waterbury, Connecticut.
The case is being prosecuted by Senior Litigation Counsel Ania Pulaski of the Homicide Bureau. Hamilton is represented by Andrew Monteleone, Esq.