Roosevelt Teenager Gets 3 1/3 to 10 Years in Prison in Killing of Rival Gang Member

16-year-old Cody Hernandez pleaded guilty to manslaughter after shooting rival gang member over a dispute about a stolen cell phone

MINEOLA, NY - Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice announced today that a Roosevelt teenager has been sentenced to 3 1/3 to 10 years in prison by Nassau County Judge William Donnino for shooting a rival gang member to death last June after the two feuded over a stolen cell phone.

Cody Hernandez, 16, of Roosevelt, pleaded guilty to Manslaughter in the First Degree on March 16. Hernandez was originally charged with Murder in the Second Degree. That trial ended with a hung jury in February. The judge used the state’s Juvenile Offender sentencing guidelines to determine Hernandez’s length of incarceration.Had Hernandez, 15 at the time of the shooting, been sentenced as an adult, he could have received as much as 25 years in prison.

Rice said that at about 3 p.m. on June 20, 2008, Hernandez and 21-year-old Lord Carter, also of Roosevelt, got into an argument over a missing cell phone. Hernandez, a member of the Crips gang, pulled a gun on Carter, a member of the rival Bloods gang, before the two parted ways. At about 11:15 p.m. the next day Carter and his brother were riding their bicycles down East Fulton Street, Hernandez’s block, on their way to a party. Hernandez saw the brothers and more words were exchanged, with Hernandez telling them to get off of the block and firing a warning shot at them.

Once the Carters arrived at the party, Rice said, they retrieved their uncle and went to meet Hernandez on the street. After a brief argument, Hernandez pulled out a handgun and fired twice, hitting Lord Carter in the abdomen and upper thigh. He died later that night. Hernandez was arrested July 10.

“This tragedy shows what can happen when children turn to gangs and a life of violence,” Rice said. “We need to get to these kids before the gangs do. Before their books are replaced by guns in their hands. There may be justice, but these are still two wasted young lives.”

Handling the case for the District Attorney's Office is Assistant District Attorney Christopher Holbrook of the Major Offense Bureau.Representing the defendant is Dominick Adabo, Esq.