CRIME

Valley Stream mother-son duo plead guilty to murder of Far Rockaway man

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A Valley Stream mother and her son pleaded guilty to the fatal shooting of a 27-year-old Far Rockaway man in 2020, the  Queen’s district attorney’s office said.


Avita Campbell, 40, and Raymond Jackson, 24, were charged with manslaughter and criminal possession of a weapon before Queens Supreme Court Justice Ushir Pandit-Durant on May 16.

Campbell also pleaded guilty to unlawful possession of personal identification.

Both will be sentenced on June 5. Campbell is expected to receive up to 22  years in prison and her son, up to 24 years. Both are also expected to receive five extra years of post-release supervision.

The shooting occurred over a money dispute on Sept. 23, 2020, according to prosecutors.

Lassau Lawrence, of Far Rockaway, went to Campbell’s home to recover money he believed Jackson owed him for a car repair. A fight then broke out between Lawrence and Jackson.

Later that day, at around 6 p.m. surveillance footage shows the armed mother-son duo getting out of their white BMW on Beach 31st Street in Far Rockaway to assault Lawrence who was in a parked car nearby.

Jackson, carrying a shotgun, opened fire on Lawrence as bullets tore through his body. Campbell, wielding a metal pipe, bashed the front windshield of Lawrence’s car. The two got back in their car and drove off, leaving Campbell, who died of his injuries.

A month later, police pulled Campbell for what they called a routine traffic stop and searched the car under a court-authorized search warrant, discovering a loaded silver and black handgun.

The gun was seized and tested, revealed to be an identical match to the one used to kill Lawrence weeks ago. Police also discovered a notebook and spreadsheet with hundreds of names, addresses, and social security numbers, prosecutors said were used for fraud.

Police detained Jackson in Florida in December 2020 and extradited him back to New York.