A money dispute in Ozone Park has landed a Buffalo man behind bars for more than two decades. Dwayne Scott, 27, was sentenced Thursday to 21½ years in prison, plus five years of post-release supervision, for the 2021 shooting that killed 20-year-old Brandon Rodriguez, a young father from Queens.
Scott pleaded guilty in April to manslaughter in the first degree, avoiding a murder trial but locking in a long state prison term. Prosecutors said Rodriguez, who had an 18-month-old child, was gunned down in September 2021 after an argument over cash escalated into deadly violence.
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced the sentence in a press release, saying Scott stepped out of another vehicle and fired multiple shots at Rodriguez at point-blank range on the evening of Sept. 24, 2021, according to the Queens District Attorney’s Office. Katz called the killing “senseless” and said the fight was over “several thousand dollars.” Scott was later tracked down in Buffalo, brought back to Queens and formally charged.
Local coverage added a grim street-level view of what happened next. As reported by QNS, Rodriguez had just parked a car near the intersection of 102nd Road and 84th Street when he was hit. A neighbor carried him to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. QNS noted that Rodriguez left behind an 18-month-old son.
Court Record And Prior Indictment
Scott was initially indicted in October 2021 on murder charges and arraigned in Queens Supreme Court, according to earlier indictment documents from the Queens DA that outline the shooting and the original counts. This year’s plea to first-degree manslaughter resolved the case without a trial. The prosecution was handled by Assistant District Attorneys Courtney Charles and Antonio Vittiglio, while detectives from the 102nd Precinct and the Queens South Homicide Squad led the investigation that ultimately located Scott in Buffalo.
Legal Implications
By admitting guilt to manslaughter in the first degree, Scott sidestepped a full-blown murder trial but still received a lengthy sentence: 21½ years in prison followed by five years of supervision once released. Prosecutors cast the outcome as necessary accountability and a step toward closure for Rodriguez’s family after what Katz described as a senseless killing over a relatively small money dispute.
