Jury Convicts Freeport Man of Murder for Shooting Outside of a Hempstead Bar

Smalls faces up to 25 years to life in prison; two co-defendants have already pleaded guilty

MINEOLA, NY – Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice announced today that a jury has convicted Ramiek Smalls of murder and other charges for his involvement in the shooting death of a rival gang member in the parking lot outside a Hempstead bar.

It took a jury a day-and-a-half to convict Smalls, 24, of Freeport, of Murder in the Second Degree, Assault in the Second Degree, and Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree. He faces up to 25 years to life in prison at his January 11 sentencing.

Rice said that at approximately 12:35 a.m. on May 31, 2011, Smalls and two other men, Michael Toney, 33, of Uniondale, and Richard Paul, 24, of Floral Park, were at the Rumba Sky nightclub to confront rival gang member Lawrence Hartman, 28, of Freeport over a year-long feud. A fight broke out in the bar’s parking lot shortly before Hartman was set to perform in a hip-hop show at the bar. Smalls shot Hartman in the abdomen and left thigh. Hartman died from his wounds two hours later at Nassau University Medical Center in East Meadow.

Smalls, Toney, and Paul fled the scene immediately, but were arrested in late June 2011 after an investigation by the Nassau County Police Department’s Homicide Squad and Bureau of Special Operations and Freeport Police Department. Toney pleaded guilty to Gang Assault in the Second Degree and Attempted Assault in the Third Degree. Paul pleaded guilty to Manslaughter in the First Degree. Both men are awaiting sentencing.

After a three-week trial, the jury rejected the defense’s claims that Smalls was not involved in the shooting.

“While our neighborhoods are safer with this murderer in prison, there are no winners here, only families torn apart and communities forced to live in fear. I want to thank the Nassau and Freeport police departments for their tireless efforts in investigating the case, and for their continuing work with my office and community organizations to combat the destructive cycle of gang violence.”

Assistant District Attorney Melissa Lewis of the Major Offense Bureau is prosecuting the case. Smalls is represented by Dennis Lemke, Esq.