East NY Teen Could Get Life In Jail For Fatal Bodega Shooting: DA

EAST NEW YORK, BROOKLYN — A teenager who opened fire on a Flatbush Avenue bodega in October and killed a father of six could spend his life in prison, prosecutors announced.

Joshua Louis, of East New York, was indicted Friday for the Oct. 10 shooting, where prosecutors said he shot through the windows of the KHF Supermarket and killed 41-year-old Dwayne Smith, who was inside.

Louis was arrested a few weeks after the shooting on second-degree murder and weapons charges. Prosecutors said he faces 25 years to life in prison if convicted of the top count.

“When this defendant allegedly opened fire, he claimed the life of a father of six and well-known member of the Flatbush community," Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said. "He also endangered the lives of every other innocent person inside the store. There is no place in Brooklyn for gun violence. We will now seek to get justice for the victim and his loved ones.”

Gonzalez said that Louis started looking for Smith around 10 p.m. that night because Smith had gotten into an argument with Louis' friend earlier that night.

When he found Smith, he was in the KHF Supermarket on Flatbush Avenue, so Louis started shooting into the store from the sidewalk, prosecutors said.

Smith was hit multiple times in the torso and was rushed to Kings County Hospital, where he died from his injuries, prosecutors said.

Investigators found Louis when they saw surveillance video of him pulling out a gun outside the bodega. A eyewitness also saw Louis shoot, prosecutors said.

Smith was an amateur filmmaker and clothing designer.

A judge ordered Louis to be held without bail until his next court date in February, prosecutors said.