A Hempstead man was sentenced to 19 years to life in prison Monday for the 2021 killing of a man in the backyard of a home in Hempstead.

Ryan Hamilton, 24, pleaded guilty Feb. 15 to the second-degree murder of Trendabi Reid, 25, of Hempstead, Nassau County District Attorney officials said. He also pleaded guilty to criminal possession of a weapon.

Prosecutors said Hamilton went to a home May 7, 2021, on James L L Burrell Avenue in Hempstead where he was talking with friends and cleaning a gun. Reid went to the home and began arguing with another man over a debt, before they started pushing and shoving each other.

Hamilton then approached the fight and unprovoked, fired a single round, shooting Reid in the face with a 9 mm pistol. He died at the scene and Hamilton ran from the home, prosecutors said.

Police found the gun in a vacant lot about two blocks away. Nassau homicide detectives arrested Hamilton more than a month later in Waterbury, Connecticut. He later confessed to police.

“When an argument broke out in the backyard of a Hempstead home, Ryan Hamilton chose to end it with violence,” District Attorney Anne Donnelly said in a statement.

NewsdayTV's Doug Geed shows us some great spots 'Out East' to visit this summer. Credit: Brian Jingeleski, Randee Daddona

Out East Show: LI Aquarium, Patty's Berries and Bunches, Palmer Vineyards NewsdayTV's Doug Geed shows us some great spots 'Out East' to visit this summer.

NewsdayTV's Doug Geed shows us some great spots 'Out East' to visit this summer. Credit: Brian Jingeleski, Randee Daddona

Out East Show: LI Aquarium, Patty's Berries and Bunches, Palmer Vineyards NewsdayTV's Doug Geed shows us some great spots 'Out East' to visit this summer.

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