On October 5, 2014, Howard “Tony” Sterling was murdered in Red Hook, Brooklyn. For the last two years, Bobby Boomer and Omar Gray were held in pretrial detention, only to be released this past August and September respectively.
It was a Sunday morning when Sterling was fatally shot in his home. The murder of Sterling, who was known to some as the “Santa Clause of Red Hook,” was a tragic loss for the community. In December 2014, Gray and Boomer were arrested for his murder.
The Brooklyn District Attorney’s (DA) Office confirmed in an email to the Red Hook Star Revue that on August 16, 2016, Boomer was acquitted at trial and Gray’s case was dismissed on September 16, 2016. The DA’s office could not comment beyond this because both cases have been sealed.
“There was clearly reasonable doubt, but in my opinion, I don’t think he should’ve been charged,” Lawrence Fredella, Boomer’s defense attorney, said in a phone interview.
Fredella said the prosecution argued that Boomer and Gray had attempted robbery at Sterling’s residence, and that Boomer shot Sterling in his leg before leaving.
“They made their allegation based on, what I thought was, faulty witnesses and also video surveillance,” said Fredella of the prosecution’s argument.
Fredella disclosed that the prosecution’s case was weakened by inconsistent DNA evidence and a fingerprint, both found at the crime scene. The fingerprint did not match Boomer, Gray nor Sterling, said Fredella. Fredella said that the DNA evidence found on a bedroom dresser did not match Boomer or Gray, and was never compared to Sterling.
Gray’s defense attorney, Barry Krinsky, also said that there was “insufficient evidence” to detain and try his client Gray.
“I made multiple motions to dismiss this case on various grounds over the last two years,” as Krinsky said in a phone interview.
Paula Boomer, Bobby Boomer’s mother, said while she is grateful to have her son acquitted, she remains saddened about Sterling.
“It’s a load lifted off me and the family. It was a lot of prayers and a lot of faith. I always trusted that this would happen because he told me from the beginning ‘I never did this,’” she said about her son’s acquittal. “I trust my son.”
The murder of Sterling and the unsolved case only heightens the fact that a life was taken, leaving a grieving community.
“I met Tony back in 1982, when I moved to Red Hook and was by myself and he became like a brother to me,” said Dawn Blondell, who was a close friend to Sterling. “His untimely death was devastating for me on a personal level. It took me a long time to gain back my equilibrium,” added Blondell.
It has been two years since Sterling’s murder and the Red Hook community is without closure. The NYPD did not respond to comment about the Sterling investigation.
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