| Guilty
Verdict in Trial of Jonathan Garcia For
Murder of Flores Amid Rap Lyric Questions
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Patreon
SDNY COURTHOUSE,
June 15 – Christopher Nelson,
also known as Hype, was
indicted in December 2019 as
part of the Black Mob gang. On
May 27 he argued for release
from prison amid COVID-19
before U.S. District Court for
the Southern District of New
York Judge Valerie E. Caproni.
Inner City Press covered it,
below.
On October
1, 2021, a co-defendant was
brought into the SDNY
Magistrates Court and Inner
City Press was there. He had
face tattoos and was referred
to as "Garcia." Inner City
Press was told, in a whisper,
that the case is death penalty
eligible. Garcia was detained
on consent; later this:
"unsealing of a five-count
Superseding Indictment
charging JONATHAN GARCIA,
a/k/a “Jayo,” with
racketeering, murder in aid of
racketeering, firearms, and
narcotics offenses, in
connection with GARCIA’s
involvement in the 2017 murder
of Joshua Flores, a/k/a
“Monster,” and offenses
committed by GARCIA as a
member of the Latin Kings,
including the Black Mob tribe
of the Latin Kings.
GARCIA was arrested today and
will be presented before U.S.
Magistrate Judge Gabriel W.
Gorenstein in Manhattan
federal court." Inner City
Press was there, as the only
media in the Mag Court, and
said it would stay on the
case.
And it has.
Garcia's trial started on June
12, 2023 and Inner City Press
was there. The first witness
was a Jamaica Hospital nurse
about Flores' body dumped
outside at a bus stop. Then an
NYP Detective about the Ozone
Park crime scene, photos of
utility glove labels and a
Chicago Bulls cap.
On June 13 came
the cross examination of a
government cooperating witness
about his rap songs. One, it
emerged, was based off
Bladerunner - that is,
fiction. The strategy appeared
to be to undermine the
credibility both of the
witness, and the upcoming Fame
Kobaine rap video which the US
Attorney's Office intends to
use to convict Garcia. "Some
raps are fiction, right?" the
question went. Yes, indeed.
The trial continues.
On June 14
Christopher Nelson, now a
cooperator, testified about
his drug dealing and meeting
with Garcia who he said
bragged about shooting Joshua
Flores or "Monster," to whom
he referred with a derogatory
word. On the screen were
Instagram photos including
Nelson and Garcia.
As the
trial wound down, the defense
wrote it about justification
in the jury charge, arguing
that "there is evidence that
Mr. Garcia was being attacked
by... a mob of gang members...
He attempted to flee but was
overcome by his attackers.
They chased him across the
street and tore his shirt. In
the frantic seconds during
which he was being jumped,
shots were fired..."
And in the Final
Jury Charge, there was a
second on Justification on
Page 19...
And then,
"JONATHAN GARCIA, a/k/a
“Jayo,” was found guilty at
trial of the May 2017 murder
of Joshua Flores in aid of
racketeering. GARCIA
shot and killed Flores in
front of a playground on a
residential street in Queens,
New York, while Flores was
running away from GARCIA."
Back on October
20, 2022 Judge Caproni held
another proceeding on Garcia,
whose CJA lawyer said he was
reaching out to the Federal
Defenders. Judge Caproni
referred to the Department of
Justice making up its mind -
that is, whether or not to
seek the death penalty. After
the mention of 6 gigabytes of
discovery, the matter was
pushed back to March 10, 2022
at 3 pm. Inner City Press will
stay on the case.
From May 27,
2021: Assistant US Attorney
Adam Hobson quoted from social
media video, about shooting
people.
Nelson's defense lawyer argued
that "Mr Nelson did not stab
anyone. The government asserts
that 'the defendant and two
junior Black Mob members
chased and stabbed a 17 year
old boy in Port Jefferson, New
Jersey.' This is untrue. The
government knows very well
that the video shows that it
was an entirely different
person - it was a black man
(Mr. Nelson is white) believed
to be 'Jo Jo' Joseph
Garcia."
On June 8, 2023,
Judge Caproni conducted a
final pre-trial conference in
US v. Garcia. Reference was
made to a music video; the
defense was told it cannot
cross examine a cooperator
about the issue of child
sexual abuse.
The overall
case is US v. Garcia,
19-cr-862 (Caproni).
***
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