Fifth and final member of Franklin gang involved in retaliatory shootings is in prison now
NORFOLK — It all started with the December 2017 fatal shooting of a Bloods gang leader in Franklin.
Brandon Lee Leonard, 26, was found face-down in a ditch behind his girlfriend’s house less than 24 hours after getting into an altercation with a member of a rival Crips-affiliated gang, according to court documents.
Hours later, a drive-by shooting occurred at a Franklin house where the Crips member who’d fought with Leonard was staying, the documents said. No one was hurt, but a bullet narrowly missed the gang member’s mother, who was asleep. The next day, two Crips members were shot and injured, one seriously, at a house on Madison Street.
Things quieted down for a while after that, but then in February 2019 — when a Crips member posted a scoreboard on social media showing the Crips leading the Bloods 1-0 — the tension began to heat up again. The score, federal prosecutors argued, was to show that the Crips had killed a Bloods member while the Bloods hadn’t killed any Crips.
A few days later, a Crips member posted a video on Brandon Leonard’s birthday in which he sang “Happy Birthday” to Leonard, then mimicked the sound of gunshots at the end. The man was shot and seriously injured later that same day, as he stood outside an apartment building with fellow gang members. The gunmen were Bloods, prosecutors said.
Five Bloods members were later indicted by a federal grand jury on a variety of attempted murder, conspiracy, racketeering and firearms charges. Three were found guilty at trial late last year and the other two pleaded guilty. On Tuesday, the last of the defendants was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Norfolk.
Malik “Hitman Redd” Newsome, 31, was sentenced to 22 years and 9 months after a jury found him guilty of conspiracy to commit murder and witness tampering.
Ronald “G” Jenkins, 42, was sentenced last week to 25 years after being convicted of attempted murder, conspiracy and having a firearm after having been convicted of a felony. Japree “Choppa” Brooks, 40, got 35 years after he was convicted of attempted murder, conspiracy and witness tampering. Deon Sykes and Montrail Manley pleaded guilty to the charges they faced, with Sykes getting 10 years and Manley getting 12.
“These defendants are used to playing by their own rules and that makes them very dangerous,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Kristen Taylor told District Judge Jamar Walker during Tuesday’s sentencing. “The town of Franklin became collateral damage.”
Newsome’s first arrest in the case came during Leonard’s December 2017 funeral. Newsome was taking part in the funeral procession when another car cut in front of the one he was riding in, and he brandished a gun at the other driver.
The other driver pulled over, called 911, and provided a description and license plate of the car the gunman was in. Newsome was arrested within minutes. A loaded Sig Sauer 9mm semi-automatic pistol was found under his seat. He later pleaded guilty to being a felon with a firearm and was sentenced to two years and three months in federal prison.
Tests on the gun showed it was used in the Madison Street shooting in which the two Crips members were injured, according to prosecutors.
“These crimes were unequivocally serious and undoubtedly troubling,” Walker said to Newsome before issuing his sentence. “There was significant harm to innocent bystanders and the residents of Franklin …You are all fortunate that no one died.”
Jane Harper, jane.harper@pilotonline.com
