A 35-year-old Elmont man accused of gunning down a 23-year-old outside a St. Albans nightclub more than three years ago was finally hauled back to Queens this week, ending a manhunt that stretched from New York to Florida. Jhavaughn Pinnock pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to second-degree murder, two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, and first-degree reckless endangerment in the April 2023 killing of Jevaughn Jeminson outside the Pure Lounge nightclub on Merrick Boulevard.
Pinnock had fled to Florida after the shooting, according to the Queens District Attorney's Office, and was ultimately tracked down in Hollywood, Florida, on August 20, 2026, through a joint operation involving the U.S. Marshals Service, the Hollywood Police Department and the NYPD, per the Queens District Attorney's Office. He was extradited back to Queens on September 22, 2026, and arraigned the following day before Queens Supreme Court Justice Gia Morris, who ordered him held without bail. Senior Assistant District Attorney Ryan Nicolosi of the DA's Homicide Bureau is leading the prosecution, and Pinnock is due back in court October 23. Melinda Katz is the Queens district attorney overseeing the case. As Newsday reports, Jeminson, who was from North Lauderdale, Florida, died after being rushed to a hospital.
How Security Failed at the Club Door
The killing followed a security breakdown at the club's entrance. Surveillance footage showed that Pure Lounge security staff frisked Pinnock's co-defendant, Christopher King, and let him inside around 1:56 a.m. on April 8, 2023, without detecting a firearm on him, but turned Pinnock away after finding a weapon on him. King then stepped back outside to help Pinnock get past security, and the two men eventually re-entered the club and sat together at a table near the exit, according to the Queens DA's office. Newsday's reporting adds that Jeminson received a text message before he left the lounge and was standing near the corner of Merrick Boulevard and Selover Avenue when Pinnock and King approached him outside.
What followed was described by Queens prosecutors as a close-range, sustained attack. Pinnock allegedly fired first, hitting Jeminson under the chin, then stood over him firing multiple shots after he collapsed, walked away briefly, and returned to shoot him again, according to Newsday's account of the pursuit, during which the pair fired a combined 20 rounds. Jeminson suffered four gunshot wounds to the face and head, two to the abdomen, four to the back, and one to the arm — 11 wounds in total. Pinnock and King then fled the scene in King's BMW.
Co-Defendant Already Sentenced to 23 Years
King was arrested in Georgia on August 16, 2023, and extradited to New York. He pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter on December 1, 2025, and was sentenced to 23 years in prison — a lighter statutory outcome than what Pinnock now faces. Under New York Penal Law § 125.25, second-degree murder is a Class A-I felony carrying a mandatory prison term of 15 to 25 years to life, according to the Marwaha Law Group. Pinnock faces up to 25 years to life if convicted. Prosecutors have not detailed how Pinnock and King knew Jeminson or what motivated the shooting, and Pinnock's attorney was not reached for comment Thursday.
A Corridor Still Grappling With Violence
Pure Lounge sits at 126-19 Merrick Boulevard in St. Albans, within the NYPD's 113th Precinct, which covers St. Albans, South Jamaica, Hollis and Rochdale from its Jamaica headquarters. NYPD data reported in April 2026 showed shooting incidents in the precinct fell 50% in early 2026 compared with the same stretch of 2025, dropping from four incidents to two, according to QNS. Even so, the Merrick Boulevard commercial corridor has seen a string of violent incidents in 2026, including a 24-year sentence for an execution outside a nearby funeral chapel and an August fatal stabbing just steps from a home nearby.
Pinnock's capture also fits a broader pattern for Queens prosecutors, who have carried out several interstate extraditions of fleeing homicide suspects in 2026, including similar multi-agency apprehensions in Georgia and Ecuador, per the Queens DA's office. The reliance on the U.S. Marshals Service and out-of-state police departments underscores how long these cases can take to close — in this instance, more than three years passed between the shooting and Pinnock's arraignment, even as his alleged accomplice's case had already concluded with a prison sentence months earlier.
