Murder suspect accused of helping plan Brooklyn electrician’s slay; shooter still on the loose
A suspect charged with murder for the September shooting death of a Brooklyn electrician didn’t pull the trigger — but played a key role in the planning and post-killing cleanup, prosecutors say.
Shamar Wiltshire, 22, is charged with murder and conspiracy in the Sept. 14 slaying of Ronald Ortiz, who was shot at point-blank range as he took his lunch break outside the Boulevard Houses in East New York.
Police are still looking for two more suspects, including the shooter, according to a criminal complaint.
Wiltshire was caught on video buying gloves and masks and taking them into one of the housing development’s buildings on Stanley Ave. near Ashford St. just before the shooting, according to the complaint.
Ortiz, 30, was taking his break underneath the building’s awning just before noon, police say.
Wiltshire then got in a silver Honda Accord and drove to nearby Elton St., where his two accomplices were waiting in a black car, the complaint says.
They swapped vehicles, with Wiltshire taking the black car and the duo getting into the silver Honda. Video captured the silver Honda’s trip around the block back to Stanley Ave., where one of the sedan’s occupants got out and opened fire on Ortiz, the complaint alleges.
They then drove back to Wiltshire, who was waiting on Elton St. with the black car. Video shows Wiltshire using bleach wipes to clean the Honda.
Wiltshire skipped town after that and police caught up with him in Stockbridge, Ga., hauling him back to New York on Friday.
He was arraigned in Brooklyn Criminal Court Sunday night and ordered held without bail until his next appearance Thursday.
Police have said Ortiz’s killers targeted him specifically, but haven’t released info on a motive.
Ortiz was beloved in his Greenpoint neighborhood. Two days after his murder, more than 400 people gathered at a candlelight vigil in a baseball field in McCarren Park, where they remembered him as a skilled athlete who played shortstop for a number of softball leagues in Williamsburg and a local basketball league.
