Guilty plea in killing of Holbrook man

A Queens man pleaded guilty Friday to killing a Holbrook man in the hopes of luring a friend to the funeral, so the friend could be killed, too.

Bad as that is, Luis Cherry and his gang mentor killed the wrong man, said Assistant District Attorney Robert Biancavilla.

"This was the brother of the intended victim," he said.

Cherry, 22, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and criminal possession of a weapon for helping to kill John Williams, 39, as he waited for his car to warm up before driving to work early one morning in October 2010. In return for his plea and a promise to cooperate against co-defendant Reginald Ross, 34, Suffolk County Court Judge James Hudson promised to sentence Cherry to 23 years to life in prison.

Biancavilla said the deal was contingent on Cherry continuing to cooperate with authorities and testifying against Ross if necessary.

Ross, who prosecutors say is a high-ranking member of the Crips street gang, is charged both with this murder and a separate killing five months earlier.

In that case, prosecutors say, Ross killed road crew flagman Raymond Hirt, 51, while he ate breakfast in his car before starting work at a site on Portion Road in Ronkonkoma.

Prosecutors say Ross killed Hirt because he felt disrespected when Ross got stuck in traffic there. Ross complained to Hirt about the delay, who said there was nothing he could do about it. Ross and Cherry were arrested March 15, 2011.

In the Williams case, Ross hoped to kill his brother to lure a drug-dealing friend to the funeral, prosecutors said.

Cherry told police he shot Williams first, who then crawled away across his car's front seat, saying, "Please don't shoot me. I'm sorry, I don't know what I did."

According to Cherry's statement, Ross told Cherry, "Watch this," shooting Williams twice in the face.

After the plea, Biancavilla said Ross was the driving force behind the Williams murder. Cherry was his protege in the gang, and he brought him along to kill Williams, Biancavilla said."Ross was the leader," he said.