James Brown, 45, of Mastic, convicted of murder in friend's shooting death

A Mastic man was found guilty of murder for the fatal shooting of his longtime friend, Suffolk County officials said Friday.

A jury on Friday found James Brown, 45, of Mastic, guilty of murder for slaying Umar Elquhir, 45, of Mastic around 18 months ago, Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney said in a news release.

The murder occurred around 9:27 p.m. on Nov. 7, 2023, just after Elquhir parked his car outside Brown’s home on the Poospatuck Reservation, according to Tierney’s office. After Elquhir’s arrival, Brown exited the residence, walked toward the vehicle while yelling “You wanna die?” and fired around nine bullets into the car, several of which struck Elquhir, who was seated behind the wheel. Brown reentered his home while the victim exited his car and dropped to the ground.

Elquhir was transported to Long Island Community Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, according to the news release.

Brown and Elquhir, whom the district attorney identified as longtime friends, were involved in a “physical altercation” a couple of hours prior. That incident was captured on a security camera at a smoke shop across the street from Brown’s home, according to the release.

Video footage also captured the shooting, the district attorney said. A palm print lifted from the part of Elquhir’s car Brown touched during the shooting matched Brown’s palm print.

Brown has a criminal record, Newsday previously reported. He served time in the Southport Correctional Facility from February 2012 to September 2015 for first-degree assault.

“This previously convicted felon killed his longtime friend by shooting him multiple times,” Tierney said in a statement Friday. “I thank the jury for the attention they paid to this case.”

Throughout a jury trial that lasted around 10 days, defense attorney Jason Russo argued that Brown acted in self-defense. Russo told Newsday he argued that Brown thought Elquhir “was pointing a gun at him,” at which point Brown retrieved the firearm from his pocket and fired at his “on and off” friend.

Russo also argued Elquhir, whom he said was originally from North Bellport but may have been residing on the reservation at the time of the shooting, had a violent history, including through testimony from his own daughter who described him as “evil,” Russo said.

Around nine months before his death, Elquhir was acquitted of second-degree murder in the 2020 shooting of a Hempstead man in East Patchogue, Newsday previously reported.

The gun Brown used in the shooting belonged to Elquhir, who requested his friend store it in his basement several months before the incident because the area he was living in at that time “was very hot with police,” Russo said.

“Mr. Brown and I are quite disappointed that the jury did not find that he was justified in taking the actions against the individual who we believe was there to kill him,” Russo told Newsday in a telephone interview Friday. “We are certainly going to continue to fight and appeal the case.”

A jury found Brown guilty Friday of second-degree murder and two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon before state Supreme Court Justice John B. Collins at Suffolk County Court in Riverhead. He is scheduled for sentencing on June 16 and could get up to 40 years to life in prison, according to the district attorney's office.