A man was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison by Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Danny Chun for a deadly 2017 shooting near the Barclays Center. Matthew Passaro, 53, received this sentence after a jury found him guilty of second-degree murder on November 18, the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office announced.
The events unfolded when Passaro, who, according to trial evidence, had no prior acquaintance with the victim, engaged in a verbal altercation with 47-year-old Stephen Vargas on the corner of Atlantic Avenue and Fourth Avenue in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn, after which he shot and killed Vargas, Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said in a statement obtained by the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office said, “Today’s sentence holds this defendant accountable for this incredibly callous shooting of an innocent man," not forgetting the impact on Vargas' family and community.
In the violent altercation back in 2017, after exchanging hostile words with Vargas, Passaro changed his clothing and returned to the scene, firearm in hand. He shot Vargas multiple times at approximately 8:15 p.m., with six bullets striking vital organs, leading to instant death. The fatal incident occurred outside 578 Atlantic Avenue, the intersection bustling, with many innocent lives shockingly intersecting with the perennial specter of urban violence that evening.
Passaro was apprehended on November 1, 2017, at the Port Authority Bus Terminal, where authorities found him in possession of a loaded .45-caliber pistol, which a microscopic analysis confirmed was the weapon used in the homicide Gonzalez’s statement also highlighted that in the face of record lows in gun-related incidents in Brooklyn due to concerted law enforcement efforts, any loss of life due to gun violence remains a source of profound grief for the community. During his arrest, the defendant admitted to the shooting, an admission that was later supported by evidence presented at trial, showing the deliberate and irreversible decision to pull the trigger, and end a life without any known provocation.
Senior Assistant District Attorney Jhounelle Cunningham, of the District Attorney’s Homicide Bureau, and Assistant District Attorney Kaitlin Kinsella, of the District Attorney’s Blue Zone Trial Bureau, prosecuted the case under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Leila Rosini, Homicide Bureau Chief. As Passaro begins his sentence, the scar of this tragedy remains, a reminder of the devastating consequences that can follow from the barrel of a gun.
