Vernard Floranda, a 46-year-old sommelier at Café Boulud, was waiting to cross the street near his Washington Heights apartment shortly after midnight on October 2, 2024, when a stray bullet from a drive-by shooting struck him in the chest. Nearly two years later, the man who drove the car that night has pleaded guilty to a reduced charge, setting the stage for a prison sentence while a second defendant heads toward trial.
Guilty Plea Comes Nearly Two Years After the Shooting
Jeremiah Bascombe, who was 19 at the time of the shooting, pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter for killing Floranda, according to the Daily Mail. Judge Ann Scherzer, who presided over the plea hearing, indicated Bascombe would receive 15 years in prison followed by five years of supervised release, with his formal sentencing hearing set for November 17. Prosecutors said gang members from the Bronx fired into a crowd from the car Bascombe was driving, and that one bullet struck Floranda in the chest, causing his almost immediate death, while another bullet hit a separate, apparently uninvolved bystander in the ankle.
Bascombe has been behind bars since October 16, 2024, when he was arrested along with two alleged accomplices roughly two weeks after the shooting. Detectives used surveillance video to trace the suspects' movements that night, per the same account: footage showed Bascombe leaving his home in the Bronx, picking up the other two teens, and driving to uptown Manhattan before the gunfire. Afterward, the report states, Bascombe fled to Yonkers, doubled back to the Bronx, swapped the shooting vehicle for another one registered in his name, and eventually returned home.
Co-Defendant Still Awaiting Trial
A second defendant, Jason Texeira, has pleaded not guilty and is scheduled to go to trial on October 13 on charges of second-degree murder, conspiracy and weapons possession, the outlet notes. A third suspect arrested alongside Bascombe and Texeira was a 17-year-old boy at the time, whose identity has not been released because he is a minor, according to the New York Daily News. That outlet reported the shooting took place in a drive-by at West 160th Street and Amsterdam Avenue.
The Daily News also reported that Floranda was pursuing his dream of one day opening his own wine bar. Before joining Café Boulud, a Michelin-star restaurant on Manhattan's Upper East Side, Floranda had built a career as a sommelier at Gramercy Tavern, another Michelin-starred New York institution, as well as at high-end establishments in Las Vegas and San Francisco.
A Career Built Around Wine, Cut Short in Washington Heights
Floranda's death sent shockwaves through New York's fine-dining world, where he was known for a career spanning some of the country's most acclaimed restaurants. The circumstances of his killing — a bystander struck by a bullet meant for someone else during a gang-linked shooting — underscored how random violence can reach even those with no connection to the underlying conflict.
With Bascombe's formal sentencing still pending for November 17 and Texeira's trial approaching in October, the case remains open on two fronts even as one defendant has accepted responsibility for his role in Floranda's death.
