A 52-year-old Long Beach man was convicted for killing a man in Long Beach.
On April 7, 2023, Ronnie Sutton was riding his bike through the Sycamore Court parking lot in the Channel Park Homes in Long Beach. Sutton rode past Shawn Usher, 33, who was standing in a parking lot next to his vehicle. He and Usher engaged in a verbal argument and Sutton pulled a gun out of his jacket and fired at Usher.
As Usher ran, Sutton gave chase and continued to shoot, even as Usher fell to the ground. Sutton fired six rounds, striking the victim five times. After Usher was hit and fell to the ground, Sutton pistol-whipped him in the head. He then got on his bike and rode away.
He hid the weapon in a bush on the side of a house on E. Market Street. The gun was recovered by members of the Long Beach Police Department a few days after the shooting.
Usher was transported to Mount Sinai South Nassau Hospital in Long Beach by the Long Beach Fire Department and was pronounced deceased at 11:30 p.m. The defendant suffered several gunshot wounds, including a fatal shot that pierced his lung and heart.
Sutton was arrested on April 19, 2023, by members of the Nassau County Police Department and the Long Beach Police Department. Sutton was convicted on August 19, 2025 of Murder in the Second Degree. He was previously convicted of Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree and Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Third Degree in connection with the same incident.
“Ronnie Sutton had every opportunity to walk away from an argument he had with Shawn Usher, but instead he chose to escalate the situation into a brutal attack. Not only did he shoot Shawn six times, but he also pursued the victim as he tried to run away and then struck him with his weapon twice in the head while he was dying on the ground,” said Nassau County District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly. “His cold-blooded behavior shows a complete disregard for human life, and this conviction makes it clear that anyone who resorts to such violence will be held fully accountable for the devastation they cause.”