Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez stated yesterday that Wesley Walker, 19, of Brooklyn, was sentenced to 18 years to life for the fatal shooting of 15-year-old Unique Smith in McLaughlin Park in Downtown Brooklyn, near Smith’s school, Brooklyn Laboratory Charter School.
During the daytime on September 7, 2022, Smith was sitting on a park bench when the incident occurred. The Brooklyn DA’s office reported that Walker, identified as being associated with the FNO Woo street gang, approached Smith with another masked individual, asked about Smith’s gang affiliations, and gunfire followed after a brief exchange.
“Today’s sentence holds this defendant accountable for taking the life of 15-year-old Unique Smith, an innocent boy who was simply sitting in a park near his school when he was senselessly murdered,” Gonzalez said in response to the judge’s ruling, according to the Brooklyn DA’s office. He noted the lasting effects of the incident on Smith’s family, friends, and the wider community.
Walker was convicted of second-degree murder and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon on August 20, following a jury trial. Based on trial testimony, he had skipped class on the day of the incident and was heard stating an intention to use the weapon he displayed at the park.
Walker was not immediately taken into custody and was later arrested in Binghamton, New York, nearly five months after the incident, on February 1, 2023. The case was prosecuted by Senior Assistant District Attorneys Matthew Perry and Lauren Fitton under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Leila Rosini, head of the Homicide Bureau.
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