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Basheer Vinson, age 29, of Brooklyn, was found guilty of murder and related charges in Suffolk County Court on Tuesday, Sept. 24, in the death of Mark Birthwright.
Prosecutors said Vinson was attending a party on Patton Avenue in Wyandanch in the early hours of Aug. 2, 2020, when he spotted the 26-year-old Birthwright and another man leaving.
As the men walked away from the home, Birthwright dropped a large roll of cash on the ground. He picked it up and was walking when Vinson and a second individual approached with guns drawn and demanded the money.
A struggle ensued between Vinson and Birthwright, and Vinson fired a single shot into the man’s chest, prosecutors said. When Birthwright’s friend ran back to help him, Vinson shot him in the side before he and his accomplice fled the scene.
Birthwright, of Bay Shore, was pronounced dead at the scene. His friend was taken to Good Samaritan Hospital in West Islip and treated for non-life-threatening injuries.
Suffolk County Police later recovered Vinson’s DNA from a purple baseball hat that was knocked off during the scuffle and left on the ground. Investigators also found a partial DNA profile from one of the spent 9mm cartridge casings.
Vinson remained on the run for over two years before he was arrested in October 2022. In court Tuesday, a Suffolk County jury convicted him of the following counts:
- Murder in the second degree
- Assault
- Attempted assault
- Attempted robbery
- Criminal possession of a weapon
He faces 25 years to life in prison when he’s sentenced on Thursday, Oct. 24.
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