Riverhead, NY - Sept. 13, 2018 - Suffolk County District Attorney Timothy D. Sini today announced the sentencing of an alleged Bloods gang member in connection with shooting a man in Riverhead in 2016 and shooting another man in Oakdale in 2017.
Jovan Bailey, 31, of Medford, was sentenced today by Suffolk County Court Judge Stephen Braslow to 14 years in prison and five years of post-release supervision. He pleaded guilty on April 12, 2018, to charges of Attempted Murder in the Second Degree, a B felony; Criminal Use of a Firearm in the First Degree, a B felony; Assault in the First Degree, a B felony; and Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree, a C felony. Orders of protection were issued for the two victims.
“This is a dangerous individual and an alleged gang member who repeatedly committed senseless acts of gun violence and then attempted to evade law enforcement by fleeing Suffolk County,” District Attorney Sini said. “Thanks to excellent collaboration between our office and our partners in the Suffolk County Police Department, Riverhead Police Department, and U.S. Marshals Service, he is now serving a significant prison sentence and being held accountable for these crimes.”
On November 26, 2016, at approximately 3:25 a.m., Bailey shot a victim twice in the chest outside of the Suffolk Theater located at 118 East Main Street in Riverhead.
On January 14, 2017, at approximately 3:05 a.m., outside Shakers Pub, located at 4608 Sunrise Highway in Oakdale, Bailey shot a different victim once in the leg. The vehicle in which Bailey fled the scene of the shooting was located by the Suffolk County Police Department. Its owner, Jessica Hardy, 29, of Bellport, was arrested at approximately 5:32 a.m. for illegally possessing an unloaded Glock 9mm semiautomatic pistol found in the car.
A forensic analysis of the weapon found that it matched evidence recovered at the two shooting scenes and DNA analysis tied both Hardy and Bailey to the firearm. An investigation by the Suffolk County Police Department, Riverhead Police Department and Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office of the two incidents further identified Bailey as the shooter.
Following the second shooting, Bailey fled the state. He was arrested in Massachusetts on March 7, 2017, by the New York/New Jersey Regional Fugitive Task Force of the U.S. Marshals Service and was brought back to Suffolk County for prosecution.
Hardy pleaded guilty on May 23, 2018, to Attempted Criminal Possession of a Firearm, an A misdemeanor. She was sentenced on July 25 by Judge Braslow to three years of probation.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Tracy Hoffman.