Bloods street gang member sentenced for 2007 drive-by killing of 15-year-old after anti-crime rally

A member of the Bloods street gang from Riverhead has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for the 2007 revenge murder of a 15-year-old, prosecutors said.

Trendell Walker, 34, who was also known as "Live Wire" and "Debo," was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Joanna Seybert in the Aug. 7, 2007, drive-by shooting of Alvin Brothers.

"Walker’s lethal act of revenge took the life of a 15-year-old child," U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr. said in a statement announcing the sentencing Thursday. "The resolve of law enforcement to bring Alvin Brothers’ killer to justice will, we hope, brings some semblance of closure to the victim’s parents and siblings. Gang members cannot escape the reality of today’s sentencing that no matter how long it takes, they will be held accountable for crimes of violence and the rule of law will prevail."

Walker pleaded guilty in connection with Brothers’ killing in 2019. His sentencing was delayed, apparently due to the COVID-19 pandemic and a series of legal issues.

Walker filed a lawsuit against authorities, alleging evidence-tampering and malicious prosecution — claims that were ultimately dismissed, court filings show. The 2024 dismissal by a federal judge noted that Seybert found Walker was "not competent to proceed" in 2023 and "ordered the government to hospitalize him for four months" in what Seybert said was "‘an effort to restore his competency to proceed."'

An attorney for Walker could not be reached. He has represented himself in recent years, according to court filings.

Prosecutors said on Aug. 6, 2007, a group of Bloods from the G-Shine set pistol-whipped and attempted to rob Walker, a member of the Rolling 20s set of the Bloods, in Bellport when he attempted to buy narcotics from them, prosecutors said.

Walker plotted with his set to retaliate against his attackers.

They returned to Bellport the following day and opened fire on a group of young people who were standing at the intersection of Post Avenue and Patchogue Avenue, prosecutors said. Brothers was standing near one of Walker’s attackers when he was shot in the back as he left an anti-violence rally, prosecutors have said.

In a November 2015 shooting, Walker was the intended target when Thomas Lacolla, 27, who was sitting in a parked car in Riverside with Walker, was fatally shot in a hail of 39 bullets, prosecutors have said. Jason Langhorn of Riverhead, a Bloods gang associate, was sentenced to 27 years in federal prison in Lacolla’s killing.

Terrill Latney, a Bloods associate from Mastic Beach, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for his role as the driver in the shooting.

Prosecutors have said there was a "standing order by the leader of the gang to kill" Walker.

By Nicole Fuller

nicole.fuller@newsday.com@NicoleFuller

Nicole Fuller is Newsday's senior criminal justice reporter. She began working at Newsday in 2012 and previously covered local government.