Valley Stream man found guilty in shooting death

The Valley Stream man accused of shooting a Queens man to death outside a Valley Stream restaurant last year was convicted of manslaughter after a six-week trial, Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice announced on Monday.

A jury found Orlando Ortiz, 40, guilty of first-degree manslaughter and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon. Ortiz shot Richard Baccus, 50, of Rosedale, just before midnight on Dec. 23, 2013, while Baccus sat in his car in a parking lot outside the restaurant after the two had been drinking inside and got into an argument, police said.

Witnesses told the jury they saw the two men arguing at the bar before Ortiz “angrily followed the victim to his car,” according to Rice.

Defense attorney Stephen Drummond argued that his client believed a small black flashlight that Baccus was holding was a gun. No gun was recovered from the vehicle.

Ortiz fired nine shots into the vehicle, striking Baccus in the head.

“It’s fitting that almost exactly one year after this defendant’s crime, a Nassau County jury has delivered its verdict on what exactly happened that night,” Rice said in a statement. “This defendant shot an unarmed man several times as he sat in his car, unable to defend himself. I am thankful for the jury’s hard work in carefully weighing all of the evidence and coming to the conclusion that only this defendant was responsible for the bloodshed that occurred that night.”

Ortiz faces up to 40 years in prison. He is scheduled to be sentenced on March 6.