Another drive-by shooting suspect pleads guilty
A former Riverhead woman who was behind the wheel of a car allegedly used in a February drive-by shooting has pleaded guilty in Suffolk County criminal court, court records show.
Two of the other three people charged in the shooting pleaded guilty earlier this year.
The man accused of firing seven rounds into the occupied Third Street home still faces felony charges.
Jasmine Parsons, 20, now of Mastic, pleaded guilty to first-degree reckless endangerment, a class “D” felony, before Judge William Condon in a Riverside courtroom Friday, records show.
The felony carries a maximum sentence of seven years in state prison. Additional information about Ms. Parsons’ plea was not immediately available.
Eric Baldwin Jr. of Bellport and Jordan Harrell of Medford — who were both in the car when it was pulled over moments after the shooting — had already pleaded guilty to the same felony reckless endangerment charge Ms. Parsons was indicted on.
Mr. Baldwin also pleaded guilty to a fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon charge stemming from brass knuckles police found during his arrest.
Ms. Parsons, Mr. Baldwin, and Mr. Harrell were all charged because they acted “in concert” in the shooting, according to a grand jury indictment.
The man prosecutors say shot a Smith & Wesson semiautomatic handgun at the Third Street home, Jeffrey Despeines, 21, of Centereach, is still facing three felony charges in the incident.
Like the others, he pleaded not guilty at his initial arraignments.
Ms. Parsons, who was then 19 years old, was the driver of the Ford Taurus that police say left the scene of the shooting just before 9 p.m. on Feb. 13.
A nearby officer on patrol said he saw the car driving away from where he heard gun shots. The police officer then trailed the car before pulling it over, arresting the group on nearby Peconic Avenue.
Prosecutors said they found spent shell casings on the floor of the car. They were later matched to “at least” one bullet dug from the house, prosecutors said.
Mr. Despeines also had a spent magazine in his shirt pocket and was carrying a loaded Smith & Wesson .38-caliber semiautomatic handgun at the time of his arrest, prosecutors said. He is also accused of defacing the registration on the gun.
Though the bullets tore through the house siding and into the bedroom and living rooms of two families living in the home, none of the people inside at the time of the shooting were injured.
Ms. Parsons is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 13, according to online records. She is being held in Suffolk County jail on $100,000 cash bail or $200,000 bond, and has an additional $5,000 bail set for a violation of probation, jail officials said.
Mr. Baldwin is expected to be sentenced on Aug. 15, while Mr. Harrell had a sentencing date scheduled for today, Monday, that was adjourned to a later date, according to the Suffolk County district attorney’s office.
Mr. Despeines is due in court on July 25.
