The 20-year-old shooter who senselessly opened fire on mourners during a tearful candlelit vigil in the Bronx could spend life behind bars, a judge ruled Wednesday.
Fordham Heights resident Darrell Patillo pled guilty to second-degree murder and attempted murder in the fatal 2012 shooting of 22-year-old Jonathan Lewis, who was mourning the year-old murder of his childhood friend Michael Ikoli.
Ikoli, then 24, was gunned down at the Webster Ave. site in 2011, and friends and family were observing the deadly anniversary when Patillo suddenly shot Lewis in the chest with a .38-caliber before firing a bullet in his neck.
He then blasting several shots in the air before fleeing the scene just outside of the building at 2427 Webster Ave. where Ikoli once lived.
The two murders are believed to be unrelated and Ikola’s murder is still unsolved, law enforcement authorities said.
Judge John Moore will preside over Patillo’s sentencing May 19, when the killer could be handed down between 30 years to life in prison, according to a D.A. spokesperson.
