A 12-year prison sentence has been handed down to Clifton Turner, a 39-year-old man from Crown Heights, for breaking into his ex-girlfriend's apartment and stabbing a man she was dating. According to a press release by the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office, Turner was convicted on charges of first-degree burglary, second-degree assault, and petit larceny following a jury trial that concluded on September 23, 2024.
"Today’s sentence holds the defendant responsible for a brutal and horrifying act of violence that nearly cost an innocent man his life," District Attorney Eric Gonzalez commented on the sentencing. The violence occurred on November 4, 2020, when Turner encountered the 26-year-old victim, who was unaware of Turner’s identity, as he arrived at the apartment building on a bicycle. Turner followed him into an elevator and up to the sixth-floor apartment where the attack would later take place, as per the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office.
According to details from the press release, Turner initially left the scene after the ex-girlfriend intervened and pulled the victim inside her apartment. However, in the early hours of the following morning, Turner forcibly entered the apartment and assaulted the sleeping man, severing a vein and brachial artery in the victim's left arm with a knife. The defendant also confiscated cellphones from the premises before being chased off by the ex-girlfriend who managed to call 911 from a corner store.
Law enforcement responded quickly to the incident, arresting Turner as he attempted to flee on the stolen bicycle. The swift medical intervention at Kings County Hospital saved the victim, who experienced a critical loss of vital signs for approximately ten minutes. The work of Assistant District Attorneys Roman Galper and Fabian Smallwood, under the oversight of Assistant District Attorney Courtney Hogg and Bureau Chief Robert Walsh, was acknowledged by Gonzalez for their efforts in the prosecution of the case.
The Brooklyn District Attorney's Office press release expressed gratitude towards the investigative and support teams that contributed to securing this outcome. Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Eugene Guarino delivered the sentence, ensuring that Turner will spend the next dozen years behind bars.
