BROOKLYN MAN FOUND GUILTY OF SECOND-DEGREE MURDER BY JURY IN SHOOTING DEATH DURING ATTEMPTED ROBBERY

(SUFFOLK COUNTY, N.Y.) – Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney today announced that Basheer Vinson, 29, of Brooklyn, was found guilty of Murder in the Second Degree, Attempted Assault in the First Degree, and other related charges, after a jury trial for the 2020 attempted robbery and shooting which took the life of Mark Birthwright, 26, of Bay Shore, and injured Robert Brown, 30, of Bellport.

“This defendant fatally gunned down Mark Birthwright at a house party in Wyandanch and severely injured Robert Brown,” said District Attorney Tierney. “Every resident in Suffolk County deserves a safe environment free from the fear that gunfire will erupt at random. We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to keep dangerous criminals like Basheer Vinson out of our communities.”

The evidence at trial established that on August 2, 2020, Basheer Vinson attended a house party on Patton Avenue in Wyandanch. In the early morning hours, at approximately 2:05 a.m., Mark Birthwright and Robert Brown were leaving the same party when Birthwright dropped a large roll of cash on the ground. He picked it up and continued to walk out of the party. Once outside, Vinson and a second unknown individual approached Birthwright with guns drawn and demanded the cash.

A brief struggle ensued between Birthwright and Vinson during which Vinson’s purple baseball hat was knocked off and left on the ground. Vinson then fired a single shot into the chest of Birthwright. Brown, who was walking ahead of Birthwright, turned and ran back to help Birthwright, but Vinson fired a shot at Brown as well, striking him in the side.

Police were contacted and Vinson and the second individual ran off. Birthwright was pronounced dead at the scene. Brown was taken to Good Samaritan Hospital and treated for non-life-threatening injuries.

Vinson’s DNA was later recovered from the purple baseball cap left at the scene, and a partial DNA profile was recovered from one of the spent 9mm cartridge casings which matched Vinson’s DNA profile. He was arrested on October 4, 2022.

On September 24, 2024, Vinson was convicted after a jury trial heard before Supreme Court Justice Timothy P. Mazzei of:

• Murder in the Second Degree, a Class A felony;
• Attempted Assault in the First Degree, a Class C violent felony;
• Attempted Robbery in the First Degree, a Class C violent felony;
• Assault in the Second Degree, a Class D violent felony; and
• Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree, a Class C violent felony.

Vinson is due back in court on October 24, 2024, and faces 25 years to life in prison on the top count. He is being represented by John Halverson, Esq.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys Timothy Gough and Dena Rizopoulos of the Homicide Bureau, and the investigation was conducted by Jeff Bottari and Detective Scott Aquilino of the Suffolk County Police Department’s Homicide Squad.

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Defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty. No one is above the law.

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