Hempstead teen sentenced to 7 years in prison for fatal Christmas Day shooting

A judge Tuesday sentenced a Hempstead teenager to seven years in prison for his role in the 2017 Christmas Day shooting that killed a father who was walking to pick up his daughter at the village’s nearby train station.

Shameq Sullins, then 16, acted as a lookout as his co-defendant Antoine Foster, then 17, opened fire on a vehicle — believing it belonged to a rival gang — as the victim crossed in front of it about 6:20 p.m., according to police.

Police have said Rafael Cepeda wasn’t the intended target of the bullet that hit him in the chest as he crossed Terrace Avenue after wrapping his 11-year-old daughter’s holiday gifts and heading out to meet her.

But gunfire still hit the 35-year-old father, whom Nassau District Attorney Madeline Singas previously described as “an innocent victim killed by senseless gang violence.”

Nassau Supervising Judge Teresa Corrigan sentenced Sullins, 18, on Tuesday in Mineola after his December guilty plea to manslaughter as part of a deal in which prosecutors agreed to drop murder charges.

Sullins’ attorney, Joseph Lo Piccolo, said after the sentencing that his client “did not admit to knowing of the gun” but to “giving information to Foster that was ultimately utilized in the shooting.”

Foster, 19, is awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty to manslaughter in October. Acting State Supreme Court Justice William O’Brien previously agreed to sentence him to 20 years in prison.

Police have identified both teenagers as Bloods members, but attorneys for the defendants say they deny gang involvement.

Foster’s attorney, Christopher Devane, said after his client’s guilty plea last year that the “incident occurred due to a prior unsolved shooting in which the perpetrators returned looking to cause more mayhem.”

A grand jury indicted both defendants on murder charges following Foster’s arrest in June 2018 in Virginia after authorities said he spent six months on the run.

Police arrested Sullins about a week after the shooting but didn’t recover the semiautomatic handgun used in the slaying.

The family of Cepeda, who did custodial work, wasn’t in court for Tuesday’s sentencing. A family friend previously told Newsday the victim’s sister is now raising his daughter.

Several of Sullins’ relatives were in court Tuesday, including his mother, younger sister and younger brother, a little boy who shouted “love you” to the defendant before court officers led him away in handcuffs.

“I’m hoping this is an isolated incident and that when he comes out of prison, he’s away from Hempstead and away from the life that led to this,” Lo Piccolo said of his client.

Prosecutors declined to comment Tuesday.