A Hempstead man associated with the Bloods gang was convicted of murder in a 2019 drive-by shooting that took the life of a 36-year-old man.
On July 28, 2019, at approximately 1:57 a.m., Taiquan Cullum, a/k/a “Tay Tay,” was at D’Ambiance bar in Baldwin and was shot at seven times by Jermaine Grant because of a perceived dispute between Cullum and Grant’s acquaintances. After the attempt on his life, Cullum went to Hempstead to retrieve a gun and picked up co-defendant Deion Barros to assist him in finding the individual who shot at him.
Cullum and Barros drove around Hempstead and came across Paul LaRue, a friend of Grant who was also at the bar during the attempted murder but not involved in the shooting. LaRue was sitting in his vehicle stopped at a red light at the intersection of Clinton Street and Fulton Avenue. Cullum and Barros pulled alongside LaRue’s Mercedes Benz and Barros allegedly opened fire approximately three times, killing LaRue. Cullum and Barros then drove off.
Grant was subsequently arrested for the attempted murder of Cullum later that morning. He was found guilty after a trial before Judge Helene Gugerty on October 27, 2022, of Attempted Murder in the Second Degree (a Class B violent felony) and two counts of Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree (a Class C violent felony). He was sentenced on December 2, 2022, to 20 years in prison.
Cullum, 35, was arrested at the Otisville Correctional Facility in Orange County, New York, on August 22, 2023, by Nassau County Police Department homicide detectives.
The trial began on June 9, 2025, and the jury deliberated for less than five hours before delivering their verdict. He was convicted on June 26, 2025, after a jury trial before Judge Howard Sturim of Murder in the Second Degree (a Class A-I felony) and two counts of Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree (both Class C violent felonies). The defendant is due back for sentencing on August 25, 2025, and faces a potential maximum of 40 years to life in prison.
The case against Barros, 29, is pending.
“This was a cowardly act of retaliation that took the life of an innocent man who had no connection to the dispute between the defendant and a neighborhood rival,” said Nassau County DA Anne Donnelly. “Taiquan Cullum chose to answer violence with violence, and in doing so has forever devastated Paul LaRue’s family. The disregard for human life by this defendant demanded accountability, and today’s verdict ensures that.”