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Overcast Queens man sentenced to 25 years to life for Elmont slaying
Campbell convicted of shooting Valley Stream man in 2009
Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice announced last week that Sandino Campbell, 28, of Queens, was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison by Nassau County Judge Alan L. Honorof.
In July, Campbell was convicted by a jury of second-degree murder, and two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, for shooting a Valley Stream man to death outside an Elmont nightclub in May of 2009.
According to police, at 4 a.m. on May 16, 2009, Campbell, shot Galy Fortune, 47, of Valley Stream, outside Moments Night Club, located at 793 Elmont Road in Elmont.
Police said that prior to the shooting, the two men were involved in an altercation regarding Campbell’s girlfriend. Both men were escorted from the bar, Campbell and his girlfriend leaving through the back door and Fortune through the front door. As Fortune was walking away, Campbell fired several shots from his car, hitting Fortune below the ribs.
Campbell fled the scene, and Fortune was taken to the North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset, where he was pronounced dead. Campbell was found in Los Angeles, by the U.S. Marshals Service, on June 20, 2010.
“No matter how far he ran or how long he hid in the shadows, this defendant’s fate was sealed the moment he pulled the trigger,” Rice said. “I want to applaud the work of each and every officer involved in the investigation and capture of Sandino Campbell, and the work of the members of my office who secured his conviction.”
Following Campbell’s conviction in July, Rice said that “while the jury’s verdict cannot bring back Mr. Fortune to his family, I hope this conviction will give them some sense of peace and justice.”
Chris Munzing, a spokesman for Rice, said that prosecution witnesses included a bouncer who was working at the bar on the night of the shooting; a man who was sitting in his vehicle, across the street from the bar, when the shooting occurred; and Campbell’s girlfriend.
In July, the jury took less than a day to determine that Campbell was guilty of murder, as well as criminal possession of a weapon. The handgun that was used in the shooting, Munzing said, was never found.
Assistant District Attorney Zeena Abdi of the Major Offense Bureau prosecuted the case for the District Attorney’s Office. Campbell is represented by Greg Madey, who said that Campbell maintains that someone else shot Fortune.
