A New York gang member who was released without bail in May on an attempted murder charge took part in three more shootings after he was freed, according to Brooklyn federal prosecutors.
Darrius Sutton was originally arrested for a May 16 shooting, during which federal authorities say the 23-year-old shot and seriously injured a man in the courtyard of an East New York building, the New York Daily News reported.
He faced charges of “attempted murder, criminal possession of a weapon and assault with intent to cause injury,” but was released without bail after the sole witness recanted, according to the outlet.
“At the time of arraignment the sole eyewitness had recanted so we did not have sufficient evidence to keep the defendant in custody,” a spokesman for the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office said in a statement.
“The investigation is continuing and we hope other witnesses come forward.”
Less than two months after he was released, Sutton, who federal prosecutors say is a member of the Gorilla Stone subset of the Bloods, allegedly took part in at least three drive-by shootings in July, according to the New York Post.
Prosecutors said Sutton’s fingerprints were found on the door of one of the cars used in the crimes, the Daily News reported.
The shootings took place between July 13 and 14, and were just three of the six shootings Sutton has participated in over the past year, prosecutors say.
Surveillance video from an April 20 altercation shows Sutton sneaking up behind a rival gang member during the day and shooting him three times in the back, according to prosecutors.
“The defendant’s violent spree over the last year has left at least seven individuals with gunshot wounds,” federal prosecutors wrote in a filing last week.
“That these events did not lead to seven deaths is entirely fortuitous — the videos described above make clear that the defendant shoots to kill.”
Sutton also appeared in a music video for a rap song by Brooklyn rapper BK Eaz called “Crime Rate” that federal prosecutors say was about how their gang was “boosting the crime rate” in New York City.
“The song features lyrics intended to threaten rival gangs,” prosecutors wrote in the filing.
The 23-year-old also spent two years behind bars “after pleading guilty to assaulting a woman and breaking her teeth in 2014,” according to Daily News. A federal review of his Facebook activity also showed that he was physically abusing his current girlfriend, according to the filing.
Sutton was being held at the Brooklyn Metropolitan Detention Center after he was arrested last week, the Daily News reported.
His lawyers declined to comment on the case to the Daily News.
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