North Carolina man convicted of shooting former friend at baby shower

By Jonathan Sperling

A North Carolina man who was retried for shooting his friend to death after a Springfield Gardens baby shower was convicted for the murder on Thursday.

Robert DeJesus was attending a family member’s baby shower in Rochdale Village in 2015 when Brian White shot him multiple times in the head and body following an argument. DeJesus had tried to run away before White shot him, according to witness testimony.

White was seeking revenge for a 2013 incident in which DeJesus stabbed him in the leg, according to additional testimony. After the stabbing, White told several mutual friends that he was going to kill DeJesus.

Justice Ushir Pandit-Durant indicated that she will sentence White, who was found guilty of second-degree murder and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, to up to 25 years to life prison on July 15.

“A joyous occasion turned into violence and bloodshed when the defendant shot and killed his former friend after a baby shower in Queens,” Acting Queens District Attorney John Ryan said in a statement.

“This kind of senseless gun violence will not be tolerated in our neighborhoods,” Ryan added.

After the shooting, White took an elevator to a floor where he rented a room. Surveillance video shows him coming out of the apartment wearing a different set of clothes. White eventually left New York and relocated to Raleigh, where he was caught by investigators in October 2015.

White was on trial last year, but the case resulted in a hung jury in December 2018.