By Alicia Cruz
The Black Urban Times
A Washington Heights barber may be spending the next the 25 years as a prison barber when he is sentenced later this month for a shooting that took place in his old barbershop five years ago.
Despite Eddy Espinal's odd defense theory --that police fingered the wrong man and even if he was shooting, he was simply "shooting and not intending to hurt anybody -- a Manhattan jury took just five hours to deliberate Espinal's fate last night. He was found guilty of attempted murder and second-degree murder against rival barber Julio Ernesto Filpo who's last words were "Don't let me die" as he lay dying from a bullet wound to his head.
Investigators say Espinal threatened his rivals "You will pay with blood," just weeks before he walked into the shop spraying bullets everywhere. He had a bone to pick with the new owners, including Filpo, who took his shop and turned it into a success. For months, Espinal had bombarded the shop with obnoxious telephone calls demanding money, his own chair and free haircuts.
He even took the new owners to small claims court claiming they owed him money for fixtures left in the shop. A judge tossed Espinal's lawsuit calling it frivolous. At that point, Espinal, according to witnesses, took to standing outside the shop and just staring inside at the new owners. It was insane.
On a sunny day in October 2005, Espinal walked into the St. Nicholas Avenue barbershop he once owned, armed with a Ruger revolver and began shooting at the new owners. Within minutes, he turned the once thriving business into a bloodbath.
Espinal's attempted murder conviction is for the shooting of barber Franklin Radney, Filpo's partner, who was injured along with two patrons and two co-workers. One of Espinal's bullets tore through Radney's lower torso, blowing pieces of his intestine out of the exit wound. Authorities say the others lives were spared because Espinal ran out of bullets.
When Espinal is sentenced May 19 before Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Ruth Pickholz, he faces a maximum of 25 years in prison.
"We came here praying for justice," the murdered barber's eldest brother, Juan Tavarez, told the New York Post after the verdict. "We got justice in this case.
"My brother was a young guy, 25 years old, a businessman. [Espinal] killed all his dreams -- and our happiness."
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The Black Urban Times
A Washington Heights barber may be spending the next the 25 years as a prison barber when he is sentenced later this month for a shooting that took place in his old barbershop five years ago.
Despite Eddy Espinal's odd defense theory --that police fingered the wrong man and even if he was shooting, he was simply "shooting and not intending to hurt anybody -- a Manhattan jury took just five hours to deliberate Espinal's fate last night. He was found guilty of attempted murder and second-degree murder against rival barber Julio Ernesto Filpo who's last words were "Don't let me die" as he lay dying from a bullet wound to his head.
Investigators say Espinal threatened his rivals "You will pay with blood," just weeks before he walked into the shop spraying bullets everywhere. He had a bone to pick with the new owners, including Filpo, who took his shop and turned it into a success. For months, Espinal had bombarded the shop with obnoxious telephone calls demanding money, his own chair and free haircuts.
He even took the new owners to small claims court claiming they owed him money for fixtures left in the shop. A judge tossed Espinal's lawsuit calling it frivolous. At that point, Espinal, according to witnesses, took to standing outside the shop and just staring inside at the new owners. It was insane.
On a sunny day in October 2005, Espinal walked into the St. Nicholas Avenue barbershop he once owned, armed with a Ruger revolver and began shooting at the new owners. Within minutes, he turned the once thriving business into a bloodbath.
Espinal's attempted murder conviction is for the shooting of barber Franklin Radney, Filpo's partner, who was injured along with two patrons and two co-workers. One of Espinal's bullets tore through Radney's lower torso, blowing pieces of his intestine out of the exit wound. Authorities say the others lives were spared because Espinal ran out of bullets.
When Espinal is sentenced May 19 before Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Ruth Pickholz, he faces a maximum of 25 years in prison.
"We came here praying for justice," the murdered barber's eldest brother, Juan Tavarez, told the New York Post after the verdict. "We got justice in this case.
"My brother was a young guy, 25 years old, a businessman. [Espinal] killed all his dreams -- and our happiness."
Source
Media Outlets must credit
The Black Urban Times www.theblackurbantimes.com
twitter.com/thebutmsdotcom
facebook.com/theblackurbantimes
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